I was at parked in front of Gilroy High School a few months ago
waiting for my daughter to get out of school.
I was at parked in front of Gilroy High School a few months ago waiting for my daughter to get out of school. I heard the final bell ring through my open window, and teenagers emerged from classrooms everywhere. My eye caught a group of young ladies walking toward me. They were smiling and chatting. It was easy to reflect back on my high school days. I could easily see myself walking and talking with my friends after school about the events of the day. But my daydream came to an abrupt halt as they approached my car and I could hear their conversations and the filthy language that rolled off dozens of perfectly glossed lips. I can’t think of a better way to undo hours of primping for that perfect look, than to ruin it by opening your mouth and spewing words that would make a prison inmate blush. I felt sorry for them. All of those pretty faces, ruined. What a waste. Don’t they know that using that kind of language is like … well it’s like frosting an angel food cake with cow dung. I’m not shocked by the fact that students curse. What got my attention was the excessiveness. It was seriously out of control.
I think the problem is the low standards girls have set for themselves. They are allowing boys to call them “bitches” and “whores.” We all know how easy it is to start believing that we are the names people call us. I wish our girls would start acting like the beautiful young ladies that they are and demand some respect starting with cleaning up their own vocabularies. Where is their sense of dignity? The fact is, if you act like a lady, you will be treated like a lady and anyone who doesn’t treat you as such, shouldn’t have your attention. I find it hard to believe that these girls can’t find other adjectives to express themselves, and it’s distressing to think that some of them have probably never been told that they’re worth more than the names they allow themselves to be called.
When I was in high school pretty much only boys swore. It wasn’t necessarily cool. I remember some boys who swore too much and they made fools of themselves mumbling curses at teachers under their breath. I never thought they were “cooler” for dropping the “f-bomb” every 10 seconds. There really were only a handful of boys who were notorious for chronic swearing and they were avoidable, unlike the in your face curse fest occurring in most conversations on campus today. Sure, back in my day there were some girls who swore a lot too, but only a few and they were not thought of as respectable.
My message to all the young people who excessively swear is that I would not hire you to work for me. Soon you’ll need a job and there’s no way I would have you represent my company with your dirty mouth. Have you ever heard a doctor use the “f” word? How about your dentist? How about the hostess at your favorite restaurant, or any sales clerk?
A few years ago a rule was passed at schools banning the use of the word “gay” because of its offensive use as a derogatory label towards homosexuals. So here is my question: If it’s wrong to call a homosexual person “gay,” isn’t it equally as wrong to call a girl a whore or drop the f-bomb? If we have the ability to discipline students for using specific and offensive words, why is this list so short? Movies get rated for language content in an age appropriate manner, so why are our schools allowing R and even X-rated language as early as elementary school age? Schools are a place for education and for some young ladies who never hear the words they need to hear at home, maybe we owe it to them to enforce a broader language rule and start educating them on the self respect they deserve. I predict that if the girls stopped promoting and accepting it, the boys would lighten up.
