IT'S finally happened – your once innocent child has dropped the first 'F' bomb and you don't know how to react.
No matter the age, hearing your kid swear and having outbursts of profanity is never a pleasant aspect of parenting – but according to one expert, this can be changed.
Chatting exclusively to The Sun, Kirsty Ketley, a parenting expert, who regularly shares advice on her site, said that most children star to use 'bad' words for a reason.
''So, kids tend to start swearing when they get frustrated and also because they want to fit in with their peers.''
Although you may find it difficult to not lose your cool, Kirsty, a mum-of-two herself, said going crazy is not the answer.
''The best thing to do is to stay calm and then have a chat about the language they are using and why it's not appropriate, offering better ways to deal with frustration and talking about how to manage peer pressure, if they are swearing to be socially accepted – how else can they try and fit in?''
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As much as we'd like to hope that our child will keep up the good behaviour outside home as well, Kirsty reminded that more often than not, it will not be the case.
''It's not realistic to think your child won't swear when with their friends, but talking about words that are less offensive than others is a good idea and reinforcing that out of their friendship group, it's not socially acceptable.''
From f**k in all its variations to b***h, the stream of swear words is never ending, and it's easy to assume that your child's picked up the language from his peers.
Of course, it's better to put the blame on someone else, but the parenting guru reminded to look at your own habits.
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''Do you swear when you're frustrated?''
She went on to explain: ''It's not fair to say it is okay for you to do, but not your child, so look at changing your own behaviour too.
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''This will help discourage bad language, so come up with what is acceptable and what is not for your family and make sure they understand that it won't be the same for everyone.
''If you have some family rules in place about what respectful language is, it will be easier to point out when your child uses an unacceptable word – "Remember, that's not a word we use in our house", for example.''
For those whose kids are running around throwing up every swear word known to mankind,Kirsty suggested coming up with other phrases to use instead of the foul language.
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When the child has finally picked up the better, more appropriate alternative, praise them, she said.
Last but not least, although you might not be around them 24/7 and there's also a level of privacy and trust to be kept, especially if it's a teenager you're dealing with, it might be worth to keep an eye out in what they're consuming via TV and social media.
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