This blog is a place for us to give our Analysis and Opinions on important topics related to civics, government and politics.
Analysis is a clinical interpretation of items, issues, ideas, or events and an explanation of their impact on the future (i.e. something you think is going to happen).
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Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Take a look at the leadership displayed by a middle school student when he said, "Don't cuss!"
Good for him. I agree with him that the words we use are important, and yes, they do determine to some extent who are our friends and where we end up going in life.
As much as I like this kid's message and his tenacity and dedication, I also think words have as much weight as we give him. I believe that once we put taboos on anything, they become more alluring, and that includes swearing.
WOW, this kid has sum guts to go aginst his friends and everything. His message is a strong one, but swearing to me is not a huge deal. Its just a word that society has deemed wrong, just like the middle finger. Another point i find funny is parents get mad at kids for saying it or kids get in trouble from schools for saying it...why dont the parents get in trouble...thats most likely where the kid learned it at.
This kid sure has a lot of courage. He better be careful where he spreads his message though. There are some parts of L.A. that he may get shot if he wanders anywhere near them. Luckily for him Pasadena is a much nicer area, but it is very close to downtown L.A. Overall I give him a lot of credit.
As for my personal belief I agree with mlowe. I believe swearing is just one of those things society has labeled as wrong and so it is looked down upon. This is why it does not bother me. However it does bother me when people use those words because they feel their sentence needs them. What I mean is they should be used as what they actually mean. For example “I went to his f**in house” has no meaning. The person only said it because he or she needed another syllable and was too dumb to come up with a legitimate adjective.
Personally, I think that the kid has a good message, and he is able to get support and I respect that. I think that there are bigger issues in this world than good/bad words lol.
At the end of the day, they are just words. There is a quote I remember from somewhere that goes, "When everything is special, then nothing is." If cuss words are used enough, they will just be commonplace words that hold no special meaning whatsoever. Reminds me of that one South Park episode.
I think its great that his club has established a following. If he can make a difference in any way, good for him. Obviously, I don't think swearing is gonna go away anytime soon, but it's nice to see that kids like him aren't taking part. Personally, I think swearing is just a way to substitute a word when you're not intelligent enough to think of a correct one. I will admit though, I do let one slip from time to time, but hopefully in this Lenten season, I can clean it up a little bit.
P.S. funding to church groups is unconstitutional :)
I also think that this kid has a lot of courage to stand up for what he believes in. Not many kids or adults even can stand up and argue against something that is for the most part acceptable in our society.
I agree with everyone basically that swear words are afterall just words. What makes one word worse than another is personal opinion. I really do not mind when people use them as long as it's not excessive or completely unintelligent in the manner they ar used. I also agree that swearing should be acceptable for all or not acceptable for anyone along with most other rules of society. Everyone is human and it's funny how equality is good when it benefits the person preaching it.
Wow, impressive...He went up against his friends and it worked. I agree with him to because swears are waaaaaay overused. I don't think I could walk down the hall of any high school without hearing an F bomb or some other swear word. I am actually shocked this worked for him but it just shows that anyone can have an influence. Sure takes a lot of courage to stand up to your friends instead of just going with the "well everyone does it" excuse.
I have a confession to make. When the question popped up on which president tried to "swear off swearing," I KNEW that I knew who it was because I remember learning about it in APUSH. Well, when I ended up being wrong I let out a very low "damn it." Then I laughed because I remembered what the whole segment was about.
Although I do not follow this kid's "code of conduct," I think it is great of him to set this up and go against what probably most of his classmates do on a daily basis. I also think that his idea of how this peer pressure can lead into kids giving in to other presseures like drinking or drugs is a very valid point to make and puts a spin on it that I never thought of.
I agree with Jenni. I've made cussing a bad habbit and its not easy for me to avoid but i congradulate this kid for his efforts on stopping other people from doing it.
I'd like to cuss less but hey, I have an excuse. Im a sailor so I think its appropriate to have a mouth like one.
On another note, I was a little concerned with President Obama's foriegn relations policy when he met with the British Prime Minister. It didn't mention it in the student news but they did a gift exchange out of politness. The Prime minister brought the president a penholder made from the same timber that the resolute desks are made of, and his wife bought his daughters each dinner dresses. In return, President Obama gave the Prime minister a 25 DVD boxset including the Wizard of Oz.
To be perfectly clear, I think that this move is an absolute insult towards the Prime Minister, and that President Obama should make a public apology because this is just embarrasing. Opinions?
I think that it's great that this kid stood up for what he believes in but there are so many more important issues that kids and teenagers should be concerned about. Not to sound cynical, but I would be very surprised if the kids involved in the club never swore when they were angry or upset. Kids shouldn't be swearing in school but I think in today's society swearing is an unavoidable habit that is just a part of our culture.
I'm very impressed by that boy, but I'm also a little shocked that his friends followed him. He is doing something noble and wants to make a difference, which I think we all can respect. The only thing that made me angry was the whole death threats part. He is a kid and is doing something he believes him so even if you don't agree with him you should still respect him.
I agree to him to an extent. Words can be chosen carefully to convey a tone and sometimes you want the tone to be not so nice. I think cuss words shouldn't be part or the daily vocabulary but should be at the ready in case there is a need for them.
I think that it is great that this kid is speaking against swearing. I am not going to lie I swear a lot, helps releive pressure, but nevertheless it is unneeded. Good for him!
This student did display extraordinary leadership skills. Doing something he believed in when most others don't agree with him. Although personally I don't really feel that preventing cussing is an important goal, it is still cool to see how far this kid got in his goals.
I couldn't agree with you more, Erik. Here Goron Brown brings something meaningful and full of history, and Obama gives him something which can be purchased at your local Best Buy(or your local Circuit city for a brief time). Simply Embarassing. This is why we are hated in Europe.
Oh, that makes sense. The reason we are hated in Europe is that the president (who has been there for just over a month) brought the wrong gift to the BRITISH prime minister. It's definitely not because we disregarded the rest of the world (except for Britain) and the United Nations and went to war in Iraq without an international coalition and without a verified reason. It's definitely not our cowboy, shoot from the hip, go it alone, might makes right, our way or the highway mentality in foreign affairs. It definitely is buying the wrong DVD set. We had the XYZ Affair. This is the Best Buy Bungle.
Sorry Jake, but I agree with Mr. Bretzmann. Although I think your right and its embarrasing, I don't think thats why Europe hates us. I like the best buy bungle though. good nickname
Hahahaha I really enjoyed reading that post Mr. Bretzmann. I obviously don't think this is the reason why Europe hates us. I should have said this definitely won't help our popularity in Europe instead. I didn't phrase my words right, but you must bare in mind that it was 1am. I will say, however, that now I'm glad I phrased it that way so I could read all of Mr. Bretzmann's wonderful descriptions of our foreign policy.
I think this is about the lamest idea I've heard in a while. Honestly, doesn't this kid have something better to do than try to control language and who speaks it.
To me, all I see is kid looking for some attention to a concept that CNN would love to portray as the modern age teenager. Sorry, but I believe this is the biggest waste of energy in a while. There's nothing wrong with swearing as long as it accurately conveys the message you are trying to communicate.
20 comments:
Good for him. I agree with him that the words we use are important, and yes, they do determine to some extent who are our friends and where we end up going in life.
As much as I like this kid's message and his tenacity and dedication, I also think words have as much weight as we give him. I believe that once we put taboos on anything, they become more alluring, and that includes swearing.
WOW, this kid has sum guts to go aginst his friends and everything. His message is a strong one, but swearing to me is not a huge deal. Its just a word that society has deemed wrong, just like the middle finger. Another point i find funny is parents get mad at kids for saying it or kids get in trouble from schools for saying it...why dont the parents get in trouble...thats most likely where the kid learned it at.
This kid sure has a lot of courage. He better be careful where he spreads his message though. There are some parts of L.A. that he may get shot if he wanders anywhere near them. Luckily for him Pasadena is a much nicer area, but it is very close to downtown L.A. Overall I give him a lot of credit.
As for my personal belief I agree with mlowe. I believe swearing is just one of those things society has labeled as wrong and so it is looked down upon. This is why it does not bother me. However it does bother me when people use those words because they feel their sentence needs them. What I mean is they should be used as what they actually mean. For example “I went to his f**in house” has no meaning. The person only said it because he or she needed another syllable and was too dumb to come up with a legitimate adjective.
Personally, I think that the kid has a good message, and he is able to get support and I respect that. I think that there are bigger issues in this world than good/bad words lol.
At the end of the day, they are just words. There is a quote I remember from somewhere that goes, "When everything is special, then nothing is." If cuss words are used enough, they will just be commonplace words that hold no special meaning whatsoever. Reminds me of that one South Park episode.
I think its great that his club has established a following. If he can make a difference in any way, good for him. Obviously, I don't think swearing is gonna go away anytime soon, but it's nice to see that kids like him aren't taking part. Personally, I think swearing is just a way to substitute a word when you're not intelligent enough to think of a correct one. I will admit though, I do let one slip from time to time, but hopefully in this Lenten season, I can clean it up a little bit.
P.S. funding to church groups is unconstitutional :)
I also think that this kid has a lot of courage to stand up for what he believes in. Not many kids or adults even can stand up and argue against something that is for the most part acceptable in our society.
I agree with everyone basically that swear words are afterall just words. What makes one word worse than another is personal opinion. I really do not mind when people use them as long as it's not excessive or completely unintelligent in the manner they ar used. I also agree that swearing should be acceptable for all or not acceptable for anyone along with most other rules of society. Everyone is human and it's funny how equality is good when it benefits the person preaching it.
I respect what he has done to end cussing. Also, I agree with him when he said that you can get your point across without cursing.
However, I believe that cussing isn't really that big of a deal, and unfortunately won't be going away any time soon.
Wow, impressive...He went up against his friends and it worked. I agree with him to because swears are waaaaaay overused. I don't think I could walk down the hall of any high school without hearing an F bomb or some other swear word. I am actually shocked this worked for him but it just shows that anyone can have an influence.
Sure takes a lot of courage to stand up to your friends instead of just going with the "well everyone does it" excuse.
I have a confession to make. When the question popped up on which president tried to "swear off swearing," I KNEW that I knew who it was because I remember learning about it in APUSH. Well, when I ended up being wrong I let out a very low "damn it." Then I laughed because I remembered what the whole segment was about.
Although I do not follow this kid's "code of conduct," I think it is great of him to set this up and go against what probably most of his classmates do on a daily basis. I also think that his idea of how this peer pressure can lead into kids giving in to other presseures like drinking or drugs is a very valid point to make and puts a spin on it that I never thought of.
I agree with Jenni. I've made cussing a bad habbit and its not easy for me to avoid but i congradulate this kid for his efforts on stopping other people from doing it.
I'd like to cuss less but hey, I have an excuse. Im a sailor so I think its appropriate to have a mouth like one.
On another note, I was a little concerned with President Obama's foriegn relations policy when he met with the British Prime Minister. It didn't mention it in the student news but they did a gift exchange out of politness. The Prime minister brought the president a penholder made from the same timber that the resolute desks are made of, and his wife bought his daughters each dinner dresses. In return, President Obama gave the Prime minister a 25 DVD boxset including the Wizard of Oz.
To be perfectly clear, I think that this move is an absolute insult towards the Prime Minister, and that President Obama should make a public apology because this is just embarrasing. Opinions?
-Erik K.
I think that it's great that this kid stood up for what he believes in but there are so many more important issues that kids and teenagers should be concerned about. Not to sound cynical, but I would be very surprised if the kids involved in the club never swore when they were angry or upset. Kids shouldn't be swearing in school but I think in today's society swearing is an unavoidable habit that is just a part of our culture.
I'm very impressed by that boy, but I'm also a little shocked that his friends followed him. He is doing something noble and wants to make a difference, which I think we all can respect. The only thing that made me angry was the whole death threats part. He is a kid and is doing something he believes him so even if you don't agree with him you should still respect him.
I agree to him to an extent. Words can be chosen carefully to convey a tone and sometimes you want the tone to be not so nice. I think cuss words shouldn't be part or the daily vocabulary but should be at the ready in case there is a need for them.
I think that it is great that this kid is speaking against swearing. I am not going to lie I swear a lot, helps releive pressure, but nevertheless it is unneeded. Good for him!
This student did display extraordinary leadership skills. Doing something he believed in when most others don't agree with him. Although personally I don't really feel that preventing cussing is an important goal, it is still cool to see how far this kid got in his goals.
I couldn't agree with you more, Erik. Here Goron Brown brings something meaningful and full of history, and Obama gives him something which can be purchased at your local Best Buy(or your local Circuit city for a brief time). Simply Embarassing. This is why we are hated in Europe.
Oh, that makes sense. The reason we are hated in Europe is that the president (who has been there for just over a month) brought the wrong gift to the BRITISH prime minister. It's definitely not because we disregarded the rest of the world (except for Britain) and the United Nations and went to war in Iraq without an international coalition and without a verified reason. It's definitely not our cowboy, shoot from the hip, go it alone, might makes right, our way or the highway mentality in foreign affairs. It definitely is buying the wrong DVD set. We had the XYZ Affair. This is the Best Buy Bungle.
Sorry Jake, but I agree with Mr. Bretzmann. Although I think your right and its embarrasing, I don't think thats why Europe hates us. I like the best buy bungle though. good nickname
Hahahaha I really enjoyed reading that post Mr. Bretzmann. I obviously don't think this is the reason why Europe hates us. I should have said this definitely won't help our popularity in Europe instead. I didn't phrase my words right, but you must bare in mind that it was 1am. I will say, however, that now I'm glad I phrased it that way so I could read all of Mr. Bretzmann's wonderful descriptions of our foreign policy.
I think this is about the lamest idea I've heard in a while. Honestly, doesn't this kid have something better to do than try to control language and who speaks it.
To me, all I see is kid looking for some attention to a concept that CNN would love to portray as the modern age teenager. Sorry, but I believe this is the biggest waste of energy in a while. There's nothing wrong with swearing as long as it accurately conveys the message you are trying to communicate.
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