Swearing in high school just got more expensive in Hartford Connecticut. In the schools where police are assigned, students caught swearing can be fined $103 for each offense. If the students can’t afford to pay the burden falls to the parents. The target isn’t the all too common profanity laced conversations of teens, but those students that swear at teachers and administrators. One student, 17 year old sophomore Keila Ayala was fined for swearing at an officer while handcuffed for trying to hit him. She said the fine won’t stop her from swearing, she just won’t swear at teachers. By the way how many 17 year old sophomores do you know?
I like the idea of less swearing in school, but what if the parents who are more likely to be the ones forced to pay don’t pay? A bench warrant? I can see some parents swearing about their kids’ swearing. Will they be fined? Maybe this is making the hallways quieter, but that doesn’t mean that students will stop defying teachers and administrators. That goes to the deeper problem of behavior and discipline.
Don Irvine is the chairman of Accuracy in Media, Accuracy in Academia’s parent group.
