Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board. 

Swear words just aren’t that bad. The vast majority of them are either bodily functions or related to God, neither of which have an inherent negativity. Yet we treat them like they are some evil that may never be shared with anyone under 18 and something to be avoided in polite society.

We do all that avoiding, censoring and punishing in regards to normative swear words while kids are learning slurs and using them. We should be less focused on keeping kids from swearing and more focused on teaching them to not hurt others with their words.

It’s nearly impossible to regulate people’s use of swear words, as there is no great reason to limit them so aggressively. What do you tell a 14-year-old who said the f-word, other than that they shouldn’t say it because it’s “bad”?

Let me share my experience after working at a summer camp — they don’t buy that reasoning. At camp, we would have to explain that using those words teaches them to the younger kids that are around, that swearing isn’t what their parents want for them and they’ll get in trouble if they swear — none of which are good reasons for why the words are banned in the first place.

We should shift our culture to one where, when an awful assignment is given, students can openly say “this f*cking sucks,” instead of a culture where slurs are openly used.

There were also many situations where I would have to teach a kid from a less progressive background why he should never say the f-slur because he had never been told not to. He claimed he saw it in movies like “The Hangover,” and he heard tons of people around him say it. The f-slur was much more accepted than swearing — those around him didn’t curse.

It was much easier to explain why the f-slur, or any slur, should never be said. Kids get that their words can hurt and will stop if you tell them how much they hurt. It would have been much better if those parents had policed their kid on using slurs rather than swearing.

It’s not just on parents, though. On TV, the word “b*tch” is said emphatically, and until recently, so was the p-word. Both demean women and are used as tools of toxic masculinity. We often treat these words as in-betweens from crap to “real” swear words. These words have actual reasoning why they shouldn’t be used, and we barely register them, but “f*ck you” is crossing the line?

It’s about time we shifted the narrative around what is and isn’t acceptable language for public hearing. I think as college students in almost purely adult settings, we should be swearing openly in class. This doesn’t have to happen aggressively — I don’t mean to say we should be allowed to become violent with our language toward each other. 

We should shift our culture to one where, when an awful assignment is given, students can openly say “this f*cking sucks,” instead of a culture where slurs are openly used.

If we can normalize people using words that are honestly pretty mundane, maybe we’ll then focus on really squashing slurs and words that we should actually be policing.

Fynn Bailey can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @FynnBailey.