“I’m telling on you!”
As an early years teacher, this is a phrase that I hear a lot. On this occasion, I put on my best attentive teacher look and waited to hear the grievance.
“Miss, Luke sweared at me in the playground!”
“What did he say?”
“Oi, you f***er!”
It took me a moment to realise that the child was not talking to me, but was repeating what Luke had said to him.
Unlike the other phrase, this is not the kind of thing that I often hear from my pupils. However, swearing does happen from time to time, even in early years. And that means having age-appropriate strategies for dealing with incidents of inappropriate language from pupils who, quite often, don’t fully understand the meaning of the words they are using.
Here are some of my tips for what to do when you hear inappropriate language from a young pupil.
1. Don’t overreact
Some children who swear do so because they are looking for a reaction, while others are simply testing boundaries. Keep cool and make sure the other children in the class are getting lots of positive praise, as this will help to refocus them and keep the atmosphere calm. Once the rest of the class are focused on the task they should be doing, take the child who swore to one side to address the problem. Although swearing in front of the whole class is not ideal, trying to speak to the child about it in front of everyone will only make things worse.
2. Give the child a chance to explain
Young children rely on us to give clear instructions and direction. When dealing with behaviour, ask the child what happened, how they have found themselves in this situation and what they could do next time. Allow them to explain things from their perspective. With early years pupils, it can be helpful to provide them with a visual aid to support them, such as a list of different emotions to choose from.
3. Use a ‘time-out’
In the case of a child swearing, giving them a time-out is a great first step. The child may have sworn because they are frustrated, so giving them some time to calm down can be helpful for them. It will also give you a breather and a chance to think about what to do next. Give the child a timer, to show them how long they have. I would then remind the child that, in our class, we use kind words.
4. Follow the usual procedure
When it comes to sanctions, I think it is important to treat swearing the same as you would any unwelcome behaviour, so that the child has a clear understanding about why they have received an “unhappy face” or a “rain cloud” on their behaviour chart. This also makes it more likely that they will adjust their behaviour, as they will be familiar with what the next step will be if the swearing should continue.
5. Know your early years pupils
As with any behaviour situation, use your teacher judgement to decide on the most appropriate response for the child in question. For example, you will know that Bob (your model student) will need something different to Julie, who is a repeat offender for inappropriate language. But whoever it is, I would always speak to the parent at the end of the day and let them know what has happened. And, if the child continues to swear in class, I would invite the parents in to discuss next steps.
Velisha Benjamin is a primary class teacher from South West London, who previously taught early years
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