Bad language on the rise at nursery school

BAD language in young children is becoming commonplace as swearing is more socially acceptable, a survey of nursery school staff reveals.

Thirteen per cent of those questioned said they had seen an increase in children swearing in nurseries and using profanities.

The poll by daynurseries.co.uk received 1,125 responses from nursery owners, managers and staff.

Power

Sue Learner, editor of the website, said: “These findings are not a surprise as swearing seems to have become more socially acceptable and if young children do not hear it at home, they can hear it in pop songs or on YouTube.

“However, it is still shocking and incongruous to hear profanities coming from the lips of a young child.

“There is a real power to swearing and when a small, seemingly innocent child swears, the words have even more resonance.”

John Warren, who has worked in childcare for more than 30 years said: “Swearing is definitely more accepted in today’s culture. This language is not reserved for less affluent families, it is also quite happily used on giant billboards for children to view such as the ‘B******* to Brexit’ campaign.

“We need to bring back the innocence in children’s lives. Let them have fun with language, invent new words and don’t be so quick to jump on the child who says ‘poo, fart and bum’ and then giggles.”

However, some nursery staff believe that rather than telling children never to swear, they say they should be taught the class is the wrong place.

Cheryl Hadland, managing director of Tops Day Nurseries, said: “I would agree that we are hearing more children swearing in day nursery.

“However, we are also preparing young children for learning there are different rules in different locations.

“Learning to refrain from swearing ‘because we don’t use that word here’ is acceptable in my opinion.”