the worst word

There was a long discussion today in our house. It began - as usual, with Punk's campaign to watch something completely inappropriate on TV.

Now, we don't screen a lot of stuff from our kids (scary and violent suff yes - crude stuff no). Punk knows all of the swear words but doesn't use them because, "They make you sound like an idiot. And TRULY funny people don't need to use those words, they rely on their quick wit." (A point which we have been driving home since age 4 - when "stupid" was the word du-jour).

Anyway, he says to me today, "So why can't I watch this?" Then proceeds to present his case, "I know every swear word and I never use them. I have good judgement and don't copy everything I see. Some things are funny to watch even if you know they are horrible to do." The kid has a valid argument.

My counter claim is that certain things require a bit of maturity, and there are some words or phrases that have power or meaning beyond just the immediate spoken word - things too terrible for adults to make sense of - let alone third graders.

"Like what?"
"Like the N-word."

I see the wheels in his head spinning as he flips through his mental files of swear words. "Naughty?" no "Naked?" no "Never?" no.

He is furious that I will not tell him. We talked ad-naseum about what the word meant and the social implications and how people have died - and killed, just because of what this word means. But I can't get the word out of my mouth. He is looking at a dictionary right now - trying to figure it out.