Expressing yourself in high school is a highly debatable concept. Being able to express yourself freely is something that students absolutely should have the right to do. Most schools have strict rules against cursing or speaking out of turn, and some arguments show that occasionally using strict language serves benefits to students.
The pros of being able to freely speak in school, especially when it comes down to cursing, is an immediate way to vent out stress, anger, excitement, or stress. Cursing can offer a way to have an emotional release when conventional words feel insufficient and don’t fit the emotion you are feeling.
When surrounded by close friends and emotions, using strong words like curse words can be an instant signal of trust. This helps build peer bonding and group identity by sharing a less formal way of speaking, helping students connect on a deeper level with others. It’s almost as if it was an unspoken agreement, and peers don’t feel like they’re talking at or like an adult.
In my opinion, cursing is a great way to express how you feel, and it has an immediate reaction to relieving how I feel when I am feeling strong emotions. Cursing offers so many ways for students to express themselves and many positive ways to help cope with stress, which is a very common emotion amongst high schoolers and even middle school students.
Despite the many pros, cursing and speaking freely in schools is highly looked down on. Although I can agree that cursing does more good than harm, it has its cons.
Cursing is often seen as disrespectful, unprofessional, or disruptive. This can negatively impact a student’s standing and lead to outbursts, which may then lead to disciplinarian action.
Not just suspension and detentions are at stake, it can also affect the development of mature, respectful communication skills needed for the students’ future academic success. Studies show that students’ language choice suggests that a high percentage of high schoolers curse. Especially outside the direct area of adults.
One survey found that around 85% of children from ages 13-18 curse on school grounds or just curse occasionally.
I will stand with the fact that for high school students, even myself, that using strong language is a good tool for genuine expression of release. Regular words can fail to help express what we are feeling. The unfiltered expression helps build strong-willed, authentic and honest peer bonding. I believe that if used appropriately, cursing is not as disrespectful as teachers, schools, and parents make it out to be, but there should be boundaries to certain situations.
