# You punish your kids for swearing on the Internet??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421 "2006-08-05T02:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/21 "2006-08-05T23:24:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yeah, it’s funny. Although the problem is that we keep getting temporarily locked out, not 86ed forever. I keep trying to get my family to cancel AOL, but they’re stlil not sufficiently motivated. I knew there had to be a catch. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/22 "2006-08-06T02:41:08Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > Even if that is the case, the desire to install “Blackwatch Plaid” or “The Cover Of Rush’s Seminal Album _Moving Pictures_”-level security monitoring on their home computer to spy on every. single. little. thing. **Plan B** ’s kids do on the net is pit-worthy in itself. _[Moving Pictures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rush-Moving_Pictures.png)?_ Actually, for moving works of art into a museum, that seems to be pretty lax security. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/23 "2006-08-06T02:55:18Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > _[Moving Pictures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rush-Moving_Pictures.png)?_ Actually, for moving works of art into a museum, that seems to be pretty lax security. I was wondering when someone was going to comment on this… Suffice it to say that it may very well be the most obscure reference in recent SDMB history\*. 😉 \*It’s a reference to the TV show _“Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law”_, and more specifically the episode _“Blackwatch Plaid”_, in case anyone was wondering… ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/24 "2006-08-06T03:25:13Z")
If the kids can’t use something responsibly - take it away from them. They’ve got in trouble abusing a priviledge - so you take it away - and spend more time with them. The only nanny I’d suggest is pulling out the plug. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/25 "2006-08-06T03:40:41Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > I don’t think **Plan B** deserves to be Pitted, but I’m also puzzled as to what he or she meant with “If my kids curse or threaten via the Internet there’s a permanent record, and two of my kids have already gotten into a little bit of hot water over it.” Do you mean they were trolling on a message board and got flamed or something? More likely they were IM’ing a classmate something threatening or risque, and the classmate printed out the logs and gave them to a parent or teacher. This actually happens a lot among grade school kids trying to get each other in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/26 "2006-08-06T04:32:27Z")
> [@wm--](#): > > More likely they were IM’ing a classmate something threatening or risque, and the classmate printed out the logs and gave them to a parent or teacher. This actually happens a lot among grade school kids trying to get each other in trouble. It also happens with kids who fear a threat is real. My daughter ended up in an IM fight. I never did figure out what started it, only that it involved my daughter, her friend down the street, and a classmate of each of theirs. The friend’s classmate threatened to beat my daughter and her classmate up in IM’s, and my daughter took her seriously. She stopped going out of the house alone, and after a few weeks of that, her classmate told her mother about the threats, and the phone calls between parents started. My daughter still wouldn’t go out for a few months. If any of the parents had found out sooner, perhaps it could have been stopped before it got to that point. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/27 "2006-08-06T15:24:09Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I think this is funny, considering how hard it is to _voluntarily_ cancel AOL service. I guess the key is to swear at other members instead of the customer service people. Looks like swearing at other members is your best bet, because dying [doesn’t seem to work.](http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/columnists.nsf/techtalk/story/A0F7FD49EFA6565A862571BF006C005A?OpenDocument) ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/28 "2006-08-07T14:19:24Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It also happens with kids who fear a threat is real. My daughter ended up in an IM fight. I never did figure out what started it, only that it involved my daughter, her friend down the street, and a classmate of each of theirs. The friend’s classmate threatened to beat my daughter and her classmate up in IM’s, and my daughter took her seriously. That’s a good point, **doreen**. I didn’t mean to trivialize the plight of kids who really are threatened and bullied. It does happen and in your daughter’s case I’m sure it helped to be able to point to concrete proof. But in other cases, chat logs can be misconstrued after the fact, and stuff that was intended as joking, flirting, or exaggeration can come back to haunt kids that didn’t mean any harm. It’s a good idea to warn kids that everything they say online can potentially be recorded, and what they meant may not be clear in a different context. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/29 "2006-08-07T14:38:05Z")
**Plan B** comes across as somebody who caves in, & never sticks up for her kids. Who are these “outside authorities”, & why does he/she/it seem to **cringe** so much when they are mentioned? I’m baffled. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/30 "2006-08-07T15:17:29Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > I was wondering when someone was going to comment on this… Suffice it to say that it may very well be the most obscure reference in recent SDMB history\*. 😉 > > \*It’s a reference to the TV show _“Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law”_, and more specifically the episode _“Blackwatch Plaid”_, in case anyone was wondering… Oh, no no no, it’s not that obscure. While I don’t have a strong opinion in this thread (I don’t have kids either), I wanted to skip ahead and post that your reference was awesome, except you beat me to it. Harvey is great and all, but you really can’t beat Phil Ken Sebben. (oh, and I know it’s inappropriate, but sometimes when dealing with our dog, we should “_I’m_ the alpha male, I’m the _alpha_ male!” ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/31 "2006-08-07T15:18:33Z")
um, that was “shout.” We shout that. ---
**Author:** ![Twinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Twinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twinkie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/32 "2006-08-07T16:22:39Z")
I don’t know if there’s any truth behind this, but the teens I know (I have a 15 year old) seem to believe that they will be held accountable for their MySpace posts (and the like) when they apply to college. They expect the colleges will do searches and find out all sorts of things about them. So, the wrong stuff on MySpace can mean you won’t get into the college of your choice. (Only the kids planning on top tier colleges seem to care about this, by the way.) Again, it may be total BS, but the kids believe it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/33 "2006-08-07T16:52:28Z")
**Twinkie** , it is not total BS. [Teens’ Bold Blogs Alarm Area Schools](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601489.html) [What you say online could haunt you](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-facebook-myspace_x.htm) I could go on. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/34 "2006-08-08T01:45:02Z")
> [@Alma](#): > > Oh, no no no, it’s not that obscure. While I don’t have a strong opinion in this thread (I don’t have kids either), I wanted to skip ahead and post that your reference was awesome, except you beat me to it. Harvey is great and all, but you really can’t beat Phil Ken Sebben. > > (oh, and I know it’s inappropriate, but sometimes when dealing with our dog, we should “_I’m_ the alpha male, I’m the _alpha_ male!” Personally, my favourite character is by far and away Mentok The Mind-Taker… it’s great fun to do the Theramin thing to unsuspecting people! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Blanche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blanche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blanche)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421/35 "2006-08-09T01:19:00Z")
If my children are allowed any access to the internet, it will be very tightly regulated. As long as the kids are under 18, it’s my responsibility to keep them out of trouble. If your 14 year old daughter gets knocked up by some 22 year old loser, it’s the parents who are going to be responsible for raising the kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-punish-your-kids-for-swearing-on-the-internet/367421.md?page=1)