Swearing… Not Just for Sailors Anymore
… that is, if swearing was ever the exclusive province of sailors, which seems unlikely.
While most institutions don’t look kindly upon students using four-letter words, particularly during class or directly in front of their professors, they don’t punish students for it, unless the swearing is disruptive or threatening. Hinds Community College is different, however; their code of conduct names “public profanity, cursing and vulgarity” and “flagrant disrespect” as specific violations. And now a student who cursed in front of a professor is finding himself in the center of a dust-up; between Hinds, which punished him and activists who say this is a free-speech issue.
What do you do when students say inappropriate things in front of you–swearing or otherwise? Do you ignore it unless the comment was directed at you, or do you say something? Does your institution have any rules about cursing or conduct that goes beyond actions that disrupt or threaten?
Tags: Policies