There’s a lot we can learn from an animated TV program.
Profane, explicit, out-of-line, gutter talk, cussing, and cursing. Those are just some of the appellations for what often happens in sports–swearing. It’s not only locker room talk, but it’s also found more and more these days on fields of play.
Arthur (from Arthur)
The Arthur episode, ‘Bleep!,’ while not a sports episode per se, teaches kids that swearing is naughty and shouldn’t be used.
The episode opens with Arthur on the set of ‘The Altos TV show,’ a spin-off of The Sopranos. He explains that any time an actor says a dirty word, the censor will bleep out the word.
D.W. (see notes) and Grandma Thora are at a glass store. D.W. is admiring the glass items when she notices a rebellious teenager messing around with the glass. The teen’s mother reprimands him for breaking stuff, to which the teenager replies, “Whatever!” The mom, angry by the back talk, bans him from attending that night’s big rock-and-roll concert. The teenager then replies, “Bleep!” Shocked, his mother drops a goblet in disbelief.
DW (from Arther)
Curious about what just happened, D.W. asks her big-brother Arthur (see notes) what the bleeped word means. Arthur, now in shock himself, drops his toy airplane. Arthur makes it clear to D.W. that she shouldn’t say that word in front of mom and dad.
Later that night, D.W. has a dream where everything on Earth, including the moon, drops after she says the word.
D.W. persists. She asks The Tibble Twins (see notes) what the word means. The Tibbles’ reply: If you say the word in front of adults, they’ll turn into zombie slaves. D.W. thinks about what it would be like, but decides not to say the word. The Tibbles call her scaredy-cat.
So D.W. tells a friend about the word and they decide to say it. It’s a mistake. They get scolded. D.W.’s mom makes it clear that swear words are bad. When D.W. asks what they mean, her mom replies, “Well I guess you can say they mean ‘I want to hurt your feelings.'”
When D.W. hears swear words being used at school, she concludes that swearing is bad and that she won’t ever swear.
All kids, including youth athletes, should take D.W.’s lead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pC6eplgKqU
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Notes:
Arthur Timothy Read is an aardvark in third grade.
Dora Winifred Read, usually known as D.W. is a 4-5-year-old brown-haired middle child of the Read family.
Timmy Tibble and Tommy Tibble, identical twin bear brothers, are the same age as D.W.
