Boy, I have a lot to say, and you guys have all made a lot of really interesting points!
First, I'd like to say that I know that I was that way somewhat in my pre-teen and early teen years, partially out of desire to seem older, seem cooler, to fit in with older kids, etc. I did enjoy swearing, watching the raunchy cartoons on adult swim, spreading around dirty jokes, and when I spent more time on the internet I learned a lot more about sex than I probably should have at age 11-12. I can definitely believe that I was a huge pain in the butt to others when I acted that way, and thinking about it now as an adult, I am embarrassed for the way I acted when I was younger, as it was foolish and completely unnecessary. It is pretty annoying to see it in people you know and spend time with frequently, and it does make you wish you could just give them a word of advice as to how they're acting, but most people (children, teens or adults) tend not to listen to sage advice from peers/elders and would rather make the mistakes on their own and learn that way. Which is fine, I suppose, until they get into trouble with the way they're acting. I of course can say this now that I'm old enough to look back and recognize my mistakes, but until these kids who are doing this learn better, the rest of us will just have to put up with it, unfortunately.
Being mature is realizing that most "mature" things are actually immature.
My mom used to drive a school bus and she said kindergardeners were cussing and talking about sexual things. That's messed up! I don't think I even knew about sex until, like, fifth or sixth grade. I didn't start to swear until well into high school. Swearing is overrated anyway.
I agree with you, these "mature" things only seem that way to kids that age because they're seemingly in that realm of things that "adults" do, whereas most people when they get old enough will grow out of that sort of thing and realize that overuse of profanity, sex jokes, etc., is a thing that actual mature people don't do. It seems like a uniquely middle-school aged thing to do, to me.
I definitely didn't get that way either until I was in middle school, so that kindergarten thing surprises me as well. I was a pretty sheltered kid, though, and I know that other children don't have the same families and backgrounds that I did. When younger kids are exposed to more things, more things like that will happen. It's pretty scary to think about. :/
Swearing is stupid as worthless, profane adult stuff is sick and disgusting and it can also be very mentally damaging. There'd be a lot less rape in the world if people weren't such sick perverts.
Kids AND adults think it's "cool" to hate everyone and swear all the time and make rude jokes and be a pervert. It's not just kids who shouldn't It's EVERYONE who shouldn't act like "adults".
It shouldn't be bad for kids to talk about sex jokes and swear but be okay for adults to do it.
I wouldn't go so far to say those things. Swearing is often distasteful and inappropriate, but I don't think it's stupid or worthless. It has its place, but that place is definitely not in the mouths of children. We create the swear words with our own language and culture, and we as a society can decide which words mean what. The f-bomb doesn't necessarily have to be a swear forever, (especially if we decide we don't want it to be!) and if you look it up, there are plenty of words we don't use anymore/mean different things than what they used to, that used to be incredibly profane. And when you say profane adult stuff, what specifically are you referring to? Also, I don't think rape has anything to do with sexual perversion - the vast majority of rapists do it out of the desire to hurt people, and sexual assault is one of the most brutal ways to hurt people. I see no link between this "profane adult stuff" and rape. I don't see many adults thinking it's "cool to hate everyone and swear all the time and make rude jokes and be a pervert." Honestly, that stuff pretty much dies out as being seen as "cool" after around age 16 for most people, and anyone who's older than that who still does those things is seen as primarily immature and they need to grow up and stop acting like that. This behavior is not appropriate for anyone, I agree with you, but I don't think that adults do it and just get an excuse when they try - they often have the power to act like children and make jokes about sex or swear incessantly, but the power to do so doesn't give them the right to do so. I know I have been very uncomfortable around adults in their 30s-40s+ that have made crude, lewd jokes and swear a lot, much more so than they should have, and it's still bad when they do it.
Swearing and talking about sex isn't mature or adult. It's immature. But the only reason why people do it is because of the media and our culture and all that stuff. If we viewed swearing as offensive words that mean bad things rather than something adults do but children don't, nobody would have the desire to swear. If we viewed sex as something people do when they love each other and/or want to have children rather than something adults do but children don't, nobody would have the desire to talk about sex. The reason why kids are so into this stuff is because our society views it as "adults-only", and people always want something they're not meant to have.
When adults talk to kids about swearing/talking about sex - or drinking, smoking, partying, porn or pretty much anything that can be bad for you - they don't say "this is bad for you, don't do it. I don't do it either." They say, "this is only for adults. Don't do it until you're an adult." They should just state that the thing is wrong for EVERYONE rather than just children. Then it won't be seen as mature to do that stuff.
I think you're absolutely right in your first point - our culture creates these taboos on sex, offensive words, etc. Children often think they're missing out on things they aren't allowed to have (i.e. too many sweets, playing in dangerous areas, etc.) and this, to me, is no different.
However, I disagree with you about the drinking, smoking, partying, porn, etc. Saying those things are wrong for everyone is hypocritical - most things can be enjoyed in moderation, as long as nobody's being hurt by those things, and telling children that these things are wrong while they are still pervasive in society is harmful. It won't help to teach them what's appropriate for them to do and not do, based on it being for adults or for nobody at all.
I blame the media and parents who aren't always there to monitor their kids and show them right from wrong when it comes to cussing and sex talk at an extremely young age.
As for acting older than they are, that's a common phase. All youngsters go through it, it's when a kid is trying to learn to separate from others and be an individual. However, there's a right way and a wrong way of going about it. Being disobedient, using profanity, etc, is the wrong way. Taking on responsibilities, a part time job after school, and volunteering and taking on extra projects is the right way.
I agree, I don't think that parents have even the opportunity to monitor all the media that kids consume. Parents have so much going on in their lives already, they can't possibly keep track of everything kids are seeing, and big media companies bank on that. And that's just for the parents who are actually pretty vigilant on what their kids see, like mine were. The ones who aren't, their kids can get away with anything.
And I think you made a really good point about how that's what happens when kids try to learn to separate from others and become an individual - they're just going about it the wrong way.
How do 12-year-olds somehow end up playing online military games, that are clearly rated 15+? Where are their parents? o_0
I guess they want to play a "mature" game, but the result is that things like Call of Duty are mostly just a bunch of screaming 12-year-olds who keep calling each other rude words.
That too has always baffled me. Especially console games. What parent that's concerned with their child's welfare would physically buy teen or mature games for their child? I suppose there are ways to get around this, kids are really smart and in the digital age, content is much easier to obtain than when I was around this age, but still. I don't get how that happens so easily and so often.
It's pretty easy for 12-year-olds to get hold of those games. Some of them are free, so you just download it, keep the door closed when you're playing it and that's it. I'm not into violent games and I just play Minecraft, but if I ever wanted to play 15+ games I could. The issue is again that these things are portrayed as mature; instead, children should be educated on how violence can be emotionally damaging at a young age, so they stay away from those games by choice like I do.
That seems pretty alarming to me that it's so easy for kids to obtain these games that are supposed to be for adults. I'm 20 and I still am not at all a fan of games that are violent or horrifying, I stay away from them as much as I can.
