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<title> Taboo or Not Taboo </title>
In Shirley E Peckham's article "Cleaning up the language" she deals with a subject that is by no means new to this generation of youth, nor to former ones, namely criticism of their language. Young people have been criticised for using bad language throughout the ages by older generations, and will probably continue to be so in the future as well. Peckham's strongly held view and disgust to children's choice of words could therefor be said to be expected, but that does not mean that I agree. This lady's ignorance about children of today and the conditions in which they live, and furthermore her poor knowledge about language development makes it necessary for me to object.
 To start with, it is important to be aware of the dramatic changes society has gone through since Shirley E Peckham was a child. Children of today are confronted with language in a whole different way than earlier, and are naturally affected by it. They absorb new words and expressions, for good and for bad, into their own process of developing communication, and as the offer of all categories of words seems endless today, there is no wonder some less proper words are absorbed.
 This also means that children's language is no longer limited to parental responsibility as it more or less used to be. Nowadays the responsibility has to be shared by several other sources, such as media in all its appearances, and this fact makes a "cleaning up of the language" far more difficult. As long as swear words and other words classified as "unsuitable" are used in society with current frequency, one can not blame children for adding them to their own vocabulary. 
This does not mean, however, that we as parents or teachers- society as a whole- should stop advocating for a proper language, but in my opinion we have not. We all are aware of the importance of using the right kind of language in different situations, and it is of highest significance that our children learn how to make this distinction as well as to realise how devastating bad language can be in a certain context. Despite what Mrs. Peckham argues in her article, both parents and school do indeed their best to teach children the value of a decent language. Peckham's view of our efforts not being effective enough- because of the fact that we nowadays do not beat or scare our children to death- indicates that she has misinterpreted the whole situation. In my opinion, one should not omit a bad word for being afraid of punishment- one should omit it for other reasons, such as to be respected for instance. It is far more useful to teach children why they should use better language and what impact bad language might have in different situations rather than punish them physically.
 

Moreover, it really strikes me when reading Peckham's article that she does not mention any experience of actually having spoken with a child. Instead she bases her criticism on several occasions of overhearing children communicating with each other and is by that absolutely repulsed by the flow of swear words that come out of their mouths. Even though there are occasions when I admit having reacted similarly- or at least to some extent- I am able to look at these particular words in another light. I, unlike Mrs. Peckham, am aware of that these children have a special code talking to each other. Sometimes their conversations are completely impossible to understand by an outsider since seemingly meaningless slang- and swear words fill the language. But these articulated slang- or swear words are part of their identity within the group, and do not necessarily mean that they would be used outside the group.
 Some swear words manage to cross the border, however. But since swear words, which are part of a never-ending developing language, tend to lose effect or may even be transformed into another significance, some of them are inevitable appearing in more formal contexts after a while. It is a natural development of language and should be accepted for what it is. Classification of swear words is however not an easy task, and one is always risking offending someone by using them, as we all have reached different steps on the ladder of acceptance. 
And still, I strongly believe that most children know what kind of language to use when talking to people external to their own group. We should leave their internal conversations alone and concern ourselves with more serious matters- which there are plenty of today. If you are worried about children's poor vocabulary I suggest that you at least speak with the children in question before you judge their ability to have a conversation. It is not fair to children to be scrutinised and judged by conservative and seemingly bitter elderly women like Mrs. Peckham, who never has attempted to approach the target of her criticism. My belief in children's capacity of speaking proper is at least based on my own experience talking to children, an experience which is quite big I might add.
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