THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030090
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY-FRASER WUNNENBERG, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 74 lines
AS SOON AS the two teen-age girls were out of the adults' hearing range, they would repeat the three curse words, d---, h---, s---, and laugh. They went so far as to carve the initials DHS into a silver bracelet. This was amusing. They loved it.
And in a time when society frowned on such naughtiness by young people, it seemed bold. One of the girls was my maternal grandmother, who chuckles when she recalls the innocence of a time past.
These days, many teen-agers still swear as an act of youthful rebellion. But there's a big difference: They say it's nothing for them and their peers to sound off in public.
For many teens, communicating with profanity is often seen as an easy way out - compared with having to make time for deep conversation in today's fast-paced society.
Instead of having a heart-to-heart with a friend to release and explain anger, society has taught teens to curse. It's easy. It's quick. It's effective. It's accepted. And school is where it thrives, students say.
During a recent break at a play rehearsal, five students at Cape Henry Collegiate School shared their views on profanity, which has become an accepted form of expression, especially among high school students. A ``cursing festival'' can be found at just about any school, said Becket Levy, a 17-year-old Cape Henry junior.
Students, he said, are more likely to curse at school because everyone else is doing it.
Fourteen-year-old Gregory Dragas, a freshman, said students ``use profanity because that is what they think is expected of them (from their classmates).''
However, David Ashinoff believes people curse because it's hard for them to express their anger any other way. Profanity is an ``easy way out'' to express emotions and feelings, said David, a 17-year-old junior.
But is it wrong to let off steam with a string of bleeeeeeep words?
By most accounts, students don't think it's wrong to curse as long as no one is degraded.
As David said, ``mild'' words ``that don't apply to people . . . can't do harm.''
Even so, some teens have turned to what Becket described as ``compound profanity'' to intensify the sting.
When curse words lose some of their shock value, teens often link several curses together in one phrase. The reaction from most students when they hear this ``compound profanity''?
Laughter.
Cursing also seems to multiply when the number of teen-agers increases. Stick a teen in a group where a peer is swearing and the person will likely join in with some choice words of his or her own, noted junior Valerie DeWandel, 16.
As students use profanity on a regular basis, teachers ignore it as well. None of the people interviewed ever recalled a student being punished for cursing at school. Yet all said they had heard profanity used within the last hour.
Students know they will not get in trouble if they use it at school because teachers do not have time to reprimand a student each time profanity slips.
David said students should be punished for using inappropriate language at school, regardless of whether school is in session.
If the words were used to degrade another student, the situation should be taken even more seriously, he said.
Senior Michael Albero, 18, views things differently, saying: ``Cursing promotes self-expression. Everybody has certain ways (of self-expression). If cursing works, you should do it.''
If this is the case, should society be concerned about foul language? Sixteen-year-old junior Erin McClellan said cursing becomes a problem when the language is used excessively.
However, most people don't seem to be too concerned about the use of profanity at all.
There are more important things to worry about, David said, adding, ``It's only words.'' MEMO: Mary-Fraser Wunnenberg is a junior at Cape Henry Collegiate in
Virginia Beach.