What You Say?

The whole family was in the car on the way to somewhere when my son, Mario concluded a sentence with "a word I'm not supposed to say." I replied "Well, not only don't say that word, but don't make reference to the word" (I don't remember the context, nor the intended word). I added further, "When I was your age, one of my sports heroes was Randy Hundley, because he didn't swear. Lovie Smith, the Bears coach also doesn't swear." For the sake of full disclosure I didn't include myself as a non-curser.

I don't live my life with blinders on. I expect that Mario's vocabulary is already beyond PG. I harp on the cursing because Mario is an Aspie. Mario doesn't quite understand that you shouldn't curse with your teachers or parents (due to Asperger's) though you might curse while hangin' your circle of 7th grade friends (which doesn't exist due to Asperger's). My method seems to be working. I rarely catch Mario cursing.

source: morgueFile.com

I'm hoping to help Mario build on the don't swear (often) meme. The whole concept of not cursing breaks down to 2 significant points:

• Don't do, wear or say something just because everyone else is doing, wearing or saying something. If everyone else is doing, wearing or saying something, it is no longer a statement of individuality.
• Think before your speak. Start with reviewing content before hitting send (that's simple enough, right?) and build to thinking before speaking. When involved in an emotion fueled conversation, slow down speaking to allow thought and reason time to be involved. The proper sequence is ready, aim, fire when using a weapon. Words can injure (or ruin reputations) just the same as bullets.

How about you? How do you feel about cursing in speech, print, public? What guidelines would you share with your children (or children of the world) to highlight individuality and safeguard reputation?