Why do so many teenagers swear?
by 
eric_the_barbaric7
ANSWERS: 62
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They aren't allowed to? Says who? They certainly hear it from their parents and from tv/movies enough to think it's ok to do. They're just trying to act adult, and swearing seems to be a pretty adult thing to do. Edit: Ok, in places where it is against the rules, like schools, then swearing is just an act of rebellion, a way of demonstrating their superiority over the ascribed rules
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Because they are easy universal words which can be used in a variety of ways throughout the common English language.
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Teenagers are in that difficult position where they have started to realized that they are actual, whole people, like adults, but still have a lot of the same needs of supervision and guidance that younger children have. Swearing may just be a simple case of testing limits and "stretching their legs", so to speak. Or, it could be that they are using them as a specific form of rebellion against cultural norms that they feel are too restricting, just as some adults do. Either way, it has become a pretty pervasive form of expression in youth culture, so some may even use vulgarities as a way to fit in and be acceptable, if not cool.
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I'd like to say its an extension of adolescent egocentricism, boorishness, lack of identity, self image, self actualization and individuation. I'll simply call it "limit testing" and the belief that they can get something over on the adults in their lives. Sometimes its for shock value. Example, you invite your boss over for dinner and your teenager comes to the dinner table wearing a "who farted" "T" shirt. If you want to get back at your kid, try sagging in front of their friends.
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because they are trying to be cool and think that if they do things like that it will make them popular.
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Because their not supposed to. Or at least I wasn't, so I did it when my parents weren't around so I could feel like a "rebel."
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I'm a teenager and for some reason I love to swear I'm not sure why though
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I never used to swear. People told me it was okay to swear sometimes. It wasn't peer pressure. Then one day I just decided I didn't care what people thought anymore and started swearing occasionally. It's a really bad habit, and I wanna stop. I do watch my language most of the time. I think the reason is different for everyone. Some it might be to be cool, some it might be because of peer pressure, some it might be because it's what they grew up with ... and some people just don't care what people think anymore . . . like me. But yeah, I try not to. Also, I thought I should mention.. I think it's kind of stereotypical to say "why do so many teenagers swear?" because people of all other ages swear, too, basically. So what's the difference? If an adult swears, it's just as bad as if a teenager does, isn't it?
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As Mr. McClister said, 'universal words.' There is really nothing bad about the words themselves, but rather that is how society is. These slang terms have origins as pretty common words themselves. There is another factor in why some teenages may swear. The advent of hormones might lead them to become more prone to it as well, since the teenager is usually somewhat rebelious.
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Crap Rap music. You know. Its all about the money. and all women are ho's and bitches. Thanks MTV. WHAT A GREAT ASSET TO OUR SOCIETY.
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Swear words are much too versatile to pass up. There are appopriate applications as well as inappropriate ones.
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From what i hear at school it makes them cool, i asked them why they do. There is a group who swears every other word
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well i have 3 bros and im used to all that stff but its not pretty when a girl uses it just for the heck of it.... its not ..... attractive but when u break ur arm i would say f%#$ but not just for the heck of it, its not girly but i say ass sometimes it not a very bad word in my house
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sometimes i think "curse words" are the only way to express a certain emotion, or evoke a certain feeling beter then any other words.. i've read some pretty moving poems by teenagers.. where they show some good and wide range of vocabulary that do not involve any slang.. but they suddenly break that flow of grace with a word like fuck and for some reason.. it just made the poem more appealing to your emotions.. so i think some teenagers swear cause they don't know better.. but others swear.. because they know how to apply it better..
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they think it makes them cool
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The same reason that adults swear. What once was termed as "bad words" are now a part of our day-to-day vocabulary. Teenagers swear because they see (hear) it in movies, music, and most especially from their parents and adults.
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i think it is the people that they are around. they learn by example from their peers and their parents.
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Everyone wants to emulate whats cool in order to fit in. Its important to act like what we call a mench, and not like someone on TV. If you treat people with respect and use language you would want to be used with you, you will have their respect.
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I swear. What's the big deal? It's a way to express different things and way we think of things I guess... For me, it just spreads. Instead of saying "Diggity darn" or something... we say a swear word.
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If your peers swear, you don't think it's a big deal or you have to in order to be in sync with your crowd. However, it would be difficult to make any headway in the business world if most of your adverbs and adjectives were swear words.
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At school, people noticed that I didn't swear, and people found that as an excuse to pick on someone. I guess its about wanting to fit in.
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Teenagers arent the only ones that swear. I believe most swear to fit in with their freinds. Most wouldnt swear if they were in a social situation with only their family.
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Why not? What is wrong with swearing? They're only words, nothing more, nothing less - people give them meaning, they're simply sounds otherwise. I could curse like a sailor - it just means I know words, it doesn't make them 'bad' words, it just makes them words. Why do teens do it more? Who knows? I've met adults who swear alot more then teens.
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I'll be ****ed if I know. ****-mouthed little ****ers. If I ever find out who taught them that it's okay to use that ****ing language, I'll kick their ***.
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because they/we r stupid
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Maybe because it's an effective way to vent frustration by doing something forbidden without incurring heavy penalties (as long as you're not caught, anyways.) It's also a way of expressing independence, sort of like jargon. Like a "swearing jargon", in a way. It also helps create the feeling of "belonging" in a certain group, the same way you would if you were using technical jargon in a certain group. I was reading a great piece of fiction that included this concept, I think it was one of Orson Scott Card's books....
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because we like to defy authority
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Oni psuju zato sto se ne znaju izraziti na drugi nacin.Nemaju rijeci u svom rjecniku kojom bi zamjenili psovku.A mozda jednostavno ne zele biti luzer u drustvu zato sto ne psuju,pa se prepustaju tim rijecima.Ili jednostavno ih takva okolina okruzuje,pa poprime tu naviku.
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Maybe beacause it's a way to be popular in your school or else, but in some other way it's a shield to proow other people that you are strong man, while you are deep in yourself a week man. On that way you're hiding your real feeling. When you bully someone you also swear to him hurting him a pain. I now that teenagers doesn't stop swear, but they can be good in some other way.... going to some events or help others to make they better.
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many teens think its the "cool" thing to do even though they know its bad.
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I think they swear to seem cool. It's not very attractive but in Middle School it is what seems cool. High School guys start to tend to care a little bit more. And then by college they want a lady not a trashy dirrty girl. Maybe it's just to seem cool like smoking and drinking is done.?
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Because in today's society it has become the norm. They don't consider anyone else's feelings. They've done it for so long they no longer realize they are around children, seniors, women. Movies and TV allow it - it's condoned but to tell you the truth I grew up in the 70's; yeah, the sex-drugs-rock n roll 70's and while teens swore back then they didn't use the "F" bomb nearly as much, nor guys around females and both sexes NEVER around adults or in public when people were in earshot. Also, guys didn't talk about their 'sexcapades' to girls and girls didn't allow it either - well, the girls with self-respect, that is! It's awful to hear that language in a public place - it's vulgar and unintelligent. You'd think today's teens would be smarter given all the technology and info they have but no - they are just followers in the 'entertainment age' doing and saying what corporate American tells them to!
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It's just the environment they were raised in, in my opinion. I have a friend who was raised a very strict Christian and could quote any part of the bible for you without a second thought, but would never be cought dead cussing. I personally was raised with several teenagers in the household who thought nothing of it, so naturally I think nothing of it either. They're just more words in my opinion.
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faggot, homo, nigger, wetback, whore, slut, kike, mick, wop, jap, slant-eye, nip, so....still think they are "just words"...and would you feel comfortable using those words in public? Remember words convey thoughts; the wrong words to someone can bring catastrophic actions!
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cuz they think theyre cool like that
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Like a like a three year old will copy what you do, so will tees and kids. Kids see many movies that are rated R. they will imitate what they here as they grow up and it will become worse
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i think swearing shows a lack of vocabulary.being unable to find or even know other less offensive words to express their feelings or vent anger.this goes for everone though,not just teenagers.
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Some do it by accident or others by habit. Others do it to look old.
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They are learning new words. It's kind of like getting a new horn for your car. You want to honk it. And, naturally they are going to be drawn to the words with the most power. Don't tell me you didn't swear as a teenager....
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You changed the subject a long time ago. Your words: I mean, after all, look at older times - Slaves were perfectly fine to keep, had been for centuries; Women were subject to subjudication, and today they are given equal rights END I was merely responding. You also added the word "bastard". I never used that word! I was merely adding to your view of our ever-changing society by adding my story of the pedestrians crossing the street. Look how angry you got. Calm down, they're "just words".
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They think it makes them cool.
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Because they think it's "cool". i would know- i AM a teenager. they think it supposedly turns people on or impresses them. or they here their parents say it and they just are around it so they think its ok.
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Up yours to the elders!
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it's not just teenagers, but adults swaer a lot to. i think it rediculas that people cant find other words to decribe emotion or thought.
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Because their F*CKING parents do.
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rap
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limited vocabulary
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The adults teach us how to be filthy. We've gotta learn it somewhere.
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I have no idea. I'm 16 and i can't seem to stop, i think it just makes me fell adult like, but when i think about it i just look imature prolly
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because of mature feelings without the mature vocabulary or mindset to support them, this is true not only for teenagers, but people in general. I swore a lot when I was a teenager, but since I've matured and found better ways to express myself, it seems so unnecessary.
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copying the grown-ups that their around.
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Because they think its 'cool' and if they do it they will become popular. Also some teens learn it from their parents or other adults, and it sticks with them throughout their teenage years. It does fade eventually when they mature, will for most of them anyway. It also occurs with stress problems, when hormones begin.
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Because having spent the first twelve years of their lives having to sit in one four square foot box (the space alloted for the average school desk) staring in one direction being force-fed information they'd rather not learn during a time in their lives where their neurons are exploding with new ideas and concepts that can fundamentally alter humanity toward great ends... is a betrayal that can put a strain on them, and hence, make them angry. Well, that accounts for many. The rest just do it because they want to belong to the ones I just mentioned.
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I swear I don't know.
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because it feels pretty good
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I'm sixteen I swear occasionally because of influence from my father. Most teenagers curse because they think they are being 'hardcore'. By that I mean thinking they are the 'big man' or girl, you get what I mean, I hope! God bless you, if you haven't heard of the Illuminati, the New World Order or the prophecies of the Book of Revelation. Please research it. Have a very good life until the end comes.
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We makee it too easy for kids to learn the words first of all and some don't care if their kids do swear so they take it to school with them having more learn and use the words and through time use it more and more
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Picked up form their parents
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honestly i do it because i want to i dont give a d**m what people think most of the time i am who i am but i'm not who i want to be the cool people curse because they want to look and sound cool i curse because i usually mean it i rarely curse without reason and usually it's because i broke something or i dropped a weight on my foot.
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because it's all they know how to do?
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Because they think they are cool. I am a teenager, on my bus so many kids swear, I hate it, it gets really annoying and loud. They eventually end up swearing at some of the sixth graders!!! It is mostly boys who do the swearing, but some girls do it too. And the bus driver does not even tell them to stop.
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Because teens like to test the boundaries set by authority figures, and swearing is one way to do it.
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