Published: Monday, November 01, 2010, 5:52 AM
Students at two Mobile County middle schools are taking a stand against profanity.Honor students at Lott Middle in Citronelle and at Semmes Middle are about to start anti-cursing campaigns, which will include having their fellow classmates sign pledges saying they won’t use swear words.
“We want to make our school a better environment,” said Nicholas Meinhardt, 14, an eighth-grader at Lott. “We want to be able to walk into the locker room and not hear people cussing.”
Cody Latham, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Semmes, said cursing is offensive and should not be used at school — or anywhere else, for that matter.
“I can’t stand hearing it,” Latham said, adding that he hopes the effort at his school discourages kids from using profanity. “If one group stops cussing, then people hanging out with them might stop, and there can be a chain reaction.”
?“I won’t cuss, swear, use bad language or tell dirty jokes. Clean language is a sign of intelligence and always demands respect. I will use my language to uplift, encourage and motivate. I will leave people better than I found them.”
Those who follow the pledge for one week are considered apprentices; one month, a journeymen; and one year, a master.
For more information, log on to www.nocussing.com
It’s part of a national movement called the No Cussing Club that was started by 14-year-old McKay Hatch of California. Hatch said he started the club in 2007 when he noticed that his middle school classmates were using profanity, and he wasn’t comfortable being around that. The club now boasts 30,000 members nationwide.
Rather than curse, Hatch recommended during a recent interview on Fox News that students say something more creative, such as, “Oh pickles,” “flip” or “barnacles.”
Semmes eighth-grader Brandan Burroughs, 14, said he likes the idea of coming up with more creative words to use instead of four-letter ones.
Mobile County school board member Ken Megginson is heading up the effort at the two schools, which are in his district. And, he said, he hopes it spreads through the county.
“Our society is at the point where it has become very accepting of language that’s totally inappropriate,” Megginson said.
Every once in a while, he said, he turns on the television set or the radio, and he’s surprised at what children are listening to. “Even the vice president of the United States of America cusses,” Megginson said. “What type of message does that send our kids?”
Vice President Joe Biden was caught on camera whispering in President Barack Obama’s ear after health care reform was signed into law: “This is a big f—-ing deal.”
Jaclyn Weaver, a counselor at Lott, said the students heading the no-cursing challenge are some of the school’s leaders.
“When you get students behind something, peer pressure can influence you to do things that are positive, not just negative,” she said, adding that she anticipates fewer discipline problems at the school if students stop cursing.
According to the Mobile County Public School System’s Code of Conduct, using obscene or profane language is a Group B offense, with punishment ranging from a trip to the principal’s office to suspension.
The Beta Club at Lott and the National Junior Honor Society at Semmes are heading up their schools’ anti-profanity efforts.
“A lot of people probably think it’s cool to cuss,” said Paige Reach, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Lott. “I hope they’ll sign our pledge. I know a lot of kids who will do it, and it’ll be nice to walk around our school and not hear profanity.”
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