I would like to applaud the teacher who asked children to write the worst words they knew down and then rank them as a means of teaching children how hurtful these words can be. As a parent of a 9-year-old, I would not object to such a lesson for my child. After all, children learn swear words pretty early in our culture. Even if the parents don't swear, kids hear these words from other kids, other adults, in songs, on TV, etc. The parent who commented that "you don't expect children to learn this filth at school...," was clearly misrepresenting the exercise, as the children were not taught new words, but asked to write down words they already knew. By confronting these words and discussing how hurtful they can be, Mr. Laband was presenting a valuable and useful life lesson and also, perhaps, removing some of the power of these words to hurt. Rather than
"teaching filth" this teacher was discouraging the children in his class from using such language. Most commendable.