Swearing in Australian high schools

Abstract

Bad language and vulgarity are prevalent elements in the lexicon of many teenagers as they navigate the complexities of identity formation and social group boundaries. However, the school environment has historically been a domain where such language is heavily censored. This paper explores attitudes to swearing within Australian high schools, drawing insights from interviews conducted with both students and teachers. Findings demonstrate that both teachers and students share similar views on swearing which consider the offensiveness of swearwords based on function. Most swearwords were only seen as offensive when they function as abuse. Teachers, however, apply a more conservative view on swearing than their own personal opinions within the classroom. Students are keenly aware of teachers’ classroom attitudes to swearing and refrain from swearing during class. However, they personally reject this conservative view on swearing due to its focus on etiquette rather than function.