Potty Mouths, The Other Side Of The Story

So, I made my big speech yesterday.  I got a ton of very positive feedback from teachers and some positive feedback from students.  

Today, the issue of students using inappropriate language is in the news.  Emma Sullivan tweeted that she told Kansas governor Sam Brownback that he sucks.  

First, when I referred in my speech to the "S word", I was not referring to "suck".  I was also referring to the gratuitous use of profanity, rather than any absolute ban.  I remember my first year teaching.  The Korean students were plumping their "Korean Day" by doing a brief presentation of some dance and martial arts.  At which point, the "top boy" - a tall, lanky kid, very bright but spoke English poorly - put another kid on his shoulders.  That kid held a board out in front of him.  A third kid ran across the stage and kicked the board, snapping it right in front of the guy's face.  He walked over to the microphone and said in a low, heavily accented voice, "That scared shit out of me."

Everyone died laughing.  The Dean of Students turned red he was laughing so hard.  In that space, with that speaker, it was just hilarious.  It had a context that somehow made it acceptable.  That certainly doesn't mean that any and all contexts are open to profanity.

What Ms. Sullivan did was political speech.  She thinks her governor sucks.  I don't live in Kansas, but I think Sam Brownback sucks, too.

Anyways, Ruth Marcus wrote a scolding piece in the WaPo about how Emma Sullivan is some sort of Visigoth and her mom is awful and... well, this is exactly what I was saying was NOT the right tact to take with profanity.

For more on this issue, there is Charlie Pierce and Booman.