Swearing: a curse or a right?

Publicity posters for “God of Carnage,” the recent student production directed by senior Annelise Nussbacher, described the play as being not suitable for small children and possibly some of the elderly. 

But were these warnings enough to justify a public high school putting on a production that uses profane language? Should school officials be able to edit and censor the works of productions? Is a work hurt when the creator’s original language is softened or changed?

These are questions the drama department, student journalists and teachers contend with in light of administrative concerns over language.

Nussbacher said the drama department is aware of administrative restrictions on language and is proactive in choosing shows that will pass administration standards. But when Nussbacher decided to direct “God of Carnage,” which contains some explicit language, this distinction became hazy.

Before Nussbacher could direct her student production, she had to get her script approved by the administration by listing out every curse word in the script and how many times it had been used. She was then given instructions on what she could and could not use. She had to limit the number of time s*** was used, and had to take out the f-word and racial slurs altogether. 

Though she followed these guidelines, Nussbacher believes that using the script’s original language, written by Yasmina Reza, is essential to convey the intended message of the production and the reality of everyday life. 

“It is the language of the adult world, and the entire function of high school is supposedly to prepare us for the adult world,” Nussbacher said. “We need that exposure, and we need that understanding that this is how we react, this is how people interact. If we’re constantly tiptoeing around reality, then we’re living in ignorance, we’re living in denial of the real world.” 

 

Free press and profanity

Drama is just one area that deals regularly with concerns over students’ use of appropriate language.

Last December, the Falcon published an article titled “Culture of Judgement,” which described the impact of bullying on an anonymous girl named Ruth. To convey his message, the writer, senior Samuel Liu, one of the two top editors for the fourth-period staff, depicted instances of bullying with profane language.

For example, Liu included in the article the insults that bullies directed at an anonymous student known as “Ruth,” including language such as the b-word, the s-word and the f-word. 

When journalism adviser Mike Tyler had concerns over which words could be printed, they took the issue to principal Paul Robinson, who allowed for some of the words but prohibited others.

Robinson’s reasoning for censoring the language in the article was that he didn’t think it was necessary to include the swear words to get the message of the article across. 

“If there are words that are being used there that I wouldn’t allow in my classroom as a teacher, I question whether there is real value of putting that into a play or a newspaper article,” Robinson said. 

In contrast, Liu believes that censoring language in any literature dilutes the content. One such example is Soundings, the school’s literary magazine, of which Liu is one of the editors.

“For example, there’s a poem we have, and the last three lines are pretty graphic, but you actually can’t replace any of the words and have the meaning of the poem stay the same,” Liu said. “You might as well delete the entire poem.”

The battle over the language in the magazine has yet to be resolved. Liu added that student-produced works should be free of censorship. 

“You lose the complete voice of teen angst without swearing. Can you imagine ‘Catcher in the Rye’ censored? It wouldn’t be nearly the same. As editor, it would actually hurt me to censor students’ budding written voices, some of which are absolutely beautiful. The English major in me rebels,” Liu said.

In response, Robinson said that his decision to censor the words was not an attack on student rights to freedom of expression, but rather a way to protect the school from outside criticism.

“It’s one of those really tight issues because I want the freedom of expression; I want it out there. But also part of my duty is to protect our school from the opinions of those outside that attack us,” Robinson said. “When that article gets published and sent out to the public, they don’t call Mr. Tyler, they don’t call the student that wrote the article, they call me.”

In response, Liu said that he would be happy to personally address any complaints caused by controversial articles.

“It’s wonderful that Robinson is looking out for our best interests, but the newspaper and the administration are separate entities,” Liu said. “I’d be happy to take an angry phone call or two if it meant publishing authentic student work.”

For the “Culture of Judgment” article, Liu and Robinson finally compromised by replacing certain letters in the swear words with asterisks, keeping the word “slut” as is and deleting the f-word altogether. Though this allowed the article to pass the administration standards, it invited controversy over rights to free press and freedom of expression. The decision over what language to include in Soundings has yet to be made. 

Frank Lomonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said that according to California Education Code 48907, California school newspapers can hold themselves to the same standards as professional publications, meaning that a student newspaper may publish profanity if the use is “professional.”

“It's kind of a two-edged sword,” Lomonte said. “You get the independence of a professional, but if you violate the standards of a professional, you may be subject to censorship.” 

Tyler said he tries to hold The Falcon to the same language guidelines as The Mercury News and other mainstream papers. 

“There’s a real balance between offending unnecessarily and writing a story that depicts reality,” Tyler said. “I think that’s where the tension lies and I think it’s something that occurs not only in high school journalism but throughout journalism.”

Along with depicting reality, Tyler also acknowledged that societal standards regarding profanity have changed.

“Things that are on commercial television now would not have been acceptable even 20 years ago,” Tyler said. “I’m not saying that’s right, but it’s just reality.”

Nussbacher agrees that times have changed, but thinks that shielding students from the use of profanity is counterproductive. 

“If we can’t even say those words in a newspaper article talking about how bad using language in this manner is, then how much more power are we giving these words by being afraid to even use them in a discussion about the potential danger within this language?” Nussbacher said. “It’s just making the problem worse.”

 

What gets you into trouble?

Around school, students are subject to obvious restrictions on their use of profanity.

In the student handbook, profanity is listed as a suspendable punishment for the first and second offense and a recommendation for expulsion on the third offense. Many students swear in the hallways at school, and strictly speaking, they can be punished for it. 

Robinson said behavioral guidelines are derived from the Mandatory Attendance Law, which requires all minors to be in school. As a result, the government requires that public schools provide a safe environment for students. 

“We don’t necessarily drop all of our freedom of expression and rights at the schoolhouse door and walk into a place where all of these rules that don’t apply in the real world apply here,” Robinson said. “But you have that freedom up to a limit where it may make others feel uncomfortable or threatened in a particular way, or it may cause a disruption to the educational environment.”

That being said, the administration has to draw the line between free speech and disruptive speech. Robinson said that cases are considered individually, but in general, if students continue to swear after they have been asked to stop, then their actions are seen as a disobedience to authority and can become a suspendable offense. 

Robinson also said that in his experience, having to discipline students for swearing is rare.

“[Students here] respect their teachers, they respect the idea that their teachers care about them and that they want the classrooms to run well,” Robinson said. 

 

Profanity in the classroom

Inside the classroom, tricky issues surrounding profanity and offensive words abound. For instance, in every English 11 class, students discuss the background and context of the n-word in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

  “I think the word in itself is important to understand if [the students are] encountering this word again and again and again in a text,” English teacher Suzanne Herzman said. “When we do teach ‘Huck Finn,’ we’re learning about the word itself, which is important if you’re thinking about how all words have power.” 

Herzman believes that it is important to understand how the context and history of a word changes its meaning.

“All of it will make our students more powerful communicators when they know the power of words and are able to use their powers for good and use their knowledge for good,” Herzman said. 

AP US history and History in Film teacher Kim Anzalone said she does not think that students should be able to swear in a public school setting. 

“I don’t think you can have completely uncensored minors,” Anzalone said. “The reason why is that students don’t have the experience or the age to sometimes be able to distinguish between something that is hurtful and something that isn’t."

Anzalone herself occasionally finds herself swearing in her AP US History classes. 

“I use the really mild [swear words], which I probably shouldn’t do, but it’s emphasis and it is never at a student; it’s more for humorous emphasis or to infuse passion,” Anzalone said. “AP is a college class, so I treat the students like they’re college-level students.”

Liu thinks this relaxed style of teaching allows students to connect with their teachers more. 

“The teachers that swear, I think, are somehow more in touch with the students,” Liu said.

According to Nussbacher, without the power that is given to curse words, there would be no discussion of what is and isn’t acceptable to release to the public in a newspaper or drama production.

 “It’s like in Harry Potter, ‘Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself.’” Nussbacher said. “If we’re so afraid to call it what it is, if we’re afraid to say ‘s***’ when people are upset on a stage like they really would in real life, then we’ll only be more afraid in those real-world situations.”