This blog post compiles practical 3-minute speech examples and their core structures to help instructors effectively convey messages within a short timeframe during teacher seminars and training sessions.

The Shadow of Inherited Competition

In a world where children of the elite attend autonomous private high schools, upper-class children enter specialized high schools, middle-class children attend regular high schools, and children from impoverished backgrounds either go to vocational high schools or drop out altogether—let’s imagine someone became a judge or prosecutor. Then, whose merit do you think enabled that judge or prosecutor to rise to that position?
I don’t believe it was due to the generous support of their parents, nor solely because they studied hard themselves. It might have been thanks to friends who possessed outstanding talent and lofty ideals yet had to abandon their studies early due to the harsh reality of poverty, friends who were inevitably pushed off the starting line of competition from the very beginning.
Competition has never been fair, and its unfairness only deepens as we move into the present day. Yet, foolish individuals who believe their achievements stem solely from personal talent and effort fuel this competition, further institutionalizing its unfairness. They say that if you feel wronged, win in the competition. They insist this is the way of the world, the truth.
I believe education is ultimately the only way to escape inherited poverty. Education cannot be emphasized enough. Yet today, parents and students prioritize private tutoring over public education. Faced with the reality of students secretly doing cram school homework under their notebooks during class, we feel profound despair. It makes one question what truly distinguishes a teacher’s lecture from a cram school instructor’s lecture. Ultimately, students choose cram school lectures to get a few more questions right on the tests we administer. A structure has solidified where they focus more on cram school lectures prioritizing problem-solving over the lectures of the very teachers who create the questions.
That said, it would be unfair to claim that the quality of teachers’ lectures is lacking. In fact, the professionalism and dedication of teachers remain beyond doubt. However, I believe a systematic support system—such as after-school classes or intensive academic management—is even more urgently needed for children who are poor but possess a clear desire to learn, children brimming with enthusiasm for studying.
Students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds have access to diverse educational resources outside school, but for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, school classes are almost their only learning pathway. That’s why we, too, want to feel a sense of fulfillment and pride watching them grow. After all, isn’t a teacher like an arrow for their students?
We are the ones who point students toward the right direction and guide them to reach a little higher. I believe teachers are the second most important figures after parents. If our teaching can help them break free from inherited poverty, if it can change even one life, what greater fulfillment and aspiration could there be?
Thank you for listening.

Is a School Without Corporal Punishment Possible?

Countless opinions are pouring out from all corners of society surrounding corporal punishment.
How do you view this issue?
Corporal punishment is said to be etched as a vivid learning experience for the child who receives it, and as a result, it can easily be understood as an act that justifies violence within human relationships. Indeed, research has shown that individuals who experienced corporal punishment from their parents during adolescence or their teenage years were approximately four times more likely to engage in spousal abuse as adults compared to those who did not. Furthermore, husbands who experienced severe domestic violence were found to be about six times more likely to assault their wives. This trend has been repeatedly confirmed in subsequent domestic and international longitudinal studies and meta-analyses, supporting the possibility that experiencing corporal punishment can lead to the learning and reproduction of violence.
The outcome of exposure to a violent environment within the space of a school is unlikely to be significantly different. To create schools free of corporal punishment and classroom breakdown, our fundamental perspective on children’s problematic behaviors must change. We need to calmly reflect on the reality our children face.
Today, our children are already integrated into the structure of entrance exam competition starting from kindergarten. For children, the classroom is often perceived less as a space for voluntary and enjoyable learning and more as a place where they must repeatedly perform uninteresting learning tasks under the teacher’s control. In this situation, when 30 to 40 energetic children are gathered in one classroom and forced to endure studies they find uninteresting, teachers are inevitably placed in a structure where they must spend about 75% of class time enforcing rules or administering punishment.
Within this environment, our children endure some of the longest learning hours in the world. Reflecting this reality, the persistent survey findings that one in five adolescents has contemplated suicide at least once serve as a warning that cannot be lightly dismissed.
Under these conditions, it may be unrealistic to expect that children exhibiting hyperactivity disorders, learning disabilities, or deviant students will not emerge. The delinquency, rebellion, and various problematic behaviors exhibited by children are not mere misbehavior. They can be interpreted as attempts to compensate for unmet needs and repeated frustrations, and as desperate signals seeking recognition of their problems through the attention of those around them.
Nevertheless, a happy school free of corporal punishment and classroom breakdown is by no means confined to an idealistic dream. Numerous examples both domestically and internationally already demonstrate this possibility. This transformation has been achieved not only in alternative schools but also in public schools like Samwoo Elementary School and Jinan Information High School.
The 2006 Korean Broadcasting documentary “Heart” vividly documented the changes that emerged as teachers at Jinan Information High School respected children as inherently valuable beings and encouraged them to recognize their own worth. Within just a few months, the children’s self-esteem noticeably improved, and their attitude toward class changed dramatically. Furthermore, the fact that their academic performance also showed a clear rise leaves many implications.
Additionally, a case study from an American alternative preschool reported that instead of imposing strict external control on children exhibiting hyperactivity, they were encouraged to create their own rules and take responsibility for them, thereby boosting their self-esteem. As a result, the hyperactive behavior itself gradually diminished. Since then, similar approaches, known as Positive Behavior Support or Restorative Living Education, have spread to public school settings in many countries, proving their effectiveness.
These examples clearly demonstrate that approaches respecting children and boosting their self-esteem are far more effective than control-focused methods like corporal punishment in reducing problem behaviors and improving academic achievement. Nevertheless, if we cannot break free from the inertia of thinking that children cannot be managed without control, schools will inevitably remain spaces of conflict and frustration.
Respecting children as they are and believing in their potential. Isn’t that the surest path to a truly happy school—one free from corporal punishment and classroom breakdown?
I sincerely thank you all for listening to the end.

Adult attention saves children

A recent mental health screening for adolescents was conducted across 31 mental health centers nationwide. The results showed that approximately 5 percent of middle and high school students exhibit symptoms of depression. These figures are not isolated past results; similar levels have been repeatedly confirmed through recent studies and data from various public institutions, indicating that adolescent mental health issues remain a critical social challenge.
So, what are the causes of depressive symptoms in adolescents?
Above all, academic stress cannot be overlooked. The pressure to perform well constantly follows them, and many also attend cram schools while bearing the full weight of parental expectations as the eldest child. When studying fails to spark any interest, yet is perceived as an absolute necessity, the burden children feel is far from light. These reasons likely interact in complex ways, weighing heavily on adolescents’ minds.
Furthermore, communication issues stemming from interpersonal relationships also play a significant role. Conflict exists in any organization, regardless of whether it’s a school or not. Adolescents are no exception. Conflicts and misunderstandings arising between parents, teachers, or peers often accumulate in their hearts without easy resolution.
Teenagers inevitably have worries they cannot easily confide in anyone, not even parents or teachers. When they feel their thoughts are not accepted or that they fall short of others’ expectations, children often experience anger and frustration. However, if they cannot find a safe outlet to express these feelings, that frustration inevitably deepens.
If there are no adults around who will listen seriously to their worries, children feel intensely stifled. When they feel they cannot communicate properly with teachers, parents, or anyone else, children naturally turn to their peers. However, problems become more complex when there are things they can only tell a teacher, things they can only confide in a friend, and inner feelings they can only share with their parents. Ultimately, the responsibility for this disconnect cannot be placed on the children; it stems from the indifference of adults.
A student I recently met through counseling was refusing to attend school due to the aftereffects of school violence. When I visited their home and earnestly persuaded them, saying, “No matter what happens, you absolutely must come to school,” the student choked up and said, “You’re the first person who has ever given me sincere advice for my sake.” That moment of small attention and one sincere word ultimately became the catalyst that brought that student back to school.
As this case shows, children need adult attention and care far more than we realize. A single word we might casually overlook, a brief encounter, can become a decisive turning point in a child’s life.
In fact, even children who say they “want to die” often show their stiffened expressions gradually brighten once a sincere conversation begins. If adults would just show a little more interest, and instead of judgment or lecturing, truly listened with an open heart, a significant portion of youth problems could be sufficiently alleviated.
Our society has now reached the point where we must build a social network that organically links psychological counseling and specialized treatment to ensure children can grow up healthily. Only when we recognize the well-being of adolescents not as an individual problem but as a shared responsibility for society as a whole can children truly return to a safe daily life.

Not just comfort, but being there

Everyone is racing upward. Chanting slogans like “promotion, promotion,” eyes perpetually fixed upward, most students stay up until dawn striving for high scores. In a competitive society where one must surpass others to rise, this might seem inevitable. Yet it’s bitterly disappointing that this landscape has become so casually accepted.
Having spent many years in teaching, I’ve come to realize how much schools themselves have changed. Schools are often called mini-societies. Among children, hierarchies naturally form based on grades, and students who excel at sports or art often receive lukewarm reactions from their peers. Only those strong in math and English are favored, and it’s impossible to ignore the underlying atmosphere where these students are treated as superior.
What is this thing called grades that forces us to witness such scenes so early on? If this is how it is now, the landscape they’ll face when they enter society is as clear as day. Climbing upward isn’t the only right answer in life. Couldn’t it also be about broadening sideways? Reading Kim Dong-ri’s literary works shouldn’t just end with selecting one correct answer from multiple-choice questions. It could also involve sensing something beyond the multiple-choice answers—a different kind of resonance. There are certainly domains where a clear-cut “correct answer” doesn’t exist in the first place.
While everyone else was frantically scrambling for scores, one student mentioned having gone on a trip over the weekend that included a public holiday. Though momentarily taken aback by this unexpected answer, I was secretly delighted for a clear reason: the joy of discovering that some children seek to broaden their horizons sideways rather than climb upward. That student is likely expanding their own world sideways through travel. Experiencing diverse things, seeing new landscapes, and sometimes spending isolated time alone are not necessarily bad things. Even while holding onto this belief, when surrounded by children striving only upward, I too find myself forgetting it before long.
I sincerely hope our students won’t be overly shaken by fierce competition. I truly wish they would value friendship more than grades, and grow through harmony rather than competition. This wish is precisely the heartfelt desire a teacher who has stood at the lectern for many years ultimately cannot let go of.

A Teacher’s Language, The Beginning of Responsibility

Hello.
I am ○○○, the instructor in charge of facilitating the seminar for teachers at the True Teacher Seminar.
I understand that those present here today are teachers responsible for various different subjects. Whether it’s physics, mathematics, politics, or Korean language, we all conduct our classes in Korean. Therefore, using proper Korean to convey the subject matter to the children is of utmost importance.
Observing Korean society today, many people modify Korean to suit their personal preferences or situations. Particularly among teenagers or specific groups, using slang can strengthen solidarity within the group. There’s also a noticeable tendency to naturally shorten words that feel somewhat long. In fact, it’s common to hear that students nowadays often refer to their homeroom teacher as “damtaeng.”
Teachers are individuals too, so they can’t always use language perfectly and correctly. Sometimes, they might want to express themselves in a fun way or use trendy phrases while speaking. I’ve also frequently observed teachers around me using such expressions. Examples include phrases like “hmm, that’s something” or “so cute.” Of course, these expressions aren’t necessarily bad in everyday language.
However, the teaching profession clearly has a special nature. Teachers are in a position to influence many people, and those people are the children who will lead this country’s future. In this regard, the role of a teacher is immense and crucial, making it a profession that demands a strong sense of mission. It’s rare to find a job that can directly influence so many people. Therefore, we must possess a sense of responsibility commensurate with this role. We must never forget that someone is always looking up to you, viewing you as an object of respect, and holding you up as an ideal.
Students imitate far more from their teachers than one might think. They naturally mimic not only speech patterns but also actions and even the teacher’s unique physical characteristics. While it may be difficult to establish clear standards of right or wrong for other aspects, and they might be hard to change easily, language is different. The distinction between proper and improper language is relatively clear to everyone. Therefore, cultivating proper language habits that can serve as a model for students is extremely important. As you well know, language is the most fundamental measure for evaluating a person. Students naturally develop trust in a teacher who possesses proper language habits. I sincerely hope you remain a wonderful teacher remembered by your students for a long time.
Thank you.

The Loss of Summer Vacation

On the persimmon tree in the yard, cicadas cry “memememe” as summer passes its midpoint. Soon, the leaf-crickets will take their turn with their ‘chiiik’ cries. When the grasshoppers begin their “tsurumutsurumu” song, summer will fade away once more. Over forty years ago, when the cicadas began their song, children on the eve of school reopening would frantically fill in the “Weather and Activities” section at the front of their “Vacation Life” books.
“Did it rain the day before yesterday? What about a week ago?” they’d ask their family members about past weather, only to end up writing down rough estimates. So it was common for the kid next door to write “rain” and the kid behind to write “sunny.” After a month and a half of frantic play, the memory of how the schoolbag felt both unfamiliar and welcome on the first day back is still vivid.
But today’s children are truly pitiful. With various academic achievement assessments and college entrance exam preparations starting earlier and earlier, even elementary schoolers now attend school during vacation and shuttle between cram schools. The summer vacations these children will remember later in life will probably be utterly dull. All of this might not be unrelated to how “capitalism” operates.
Back in my school days, whether you were the kid from the soy sauce factory family—the richest in our school—or any other friend, the fabric of daily life was much the same. Back then, the scale of capital accumulation wasn’t as vast as it is now, and the power of money wasn’t nearly as potent. So, we could spend the entire vacation buried in math books without it being a big deal. I remember being amazed in my first year of high school when our homeroom teacher mentioned students who studied past ten o’clock at night. Since most classmates had never even stayed up past nine, we could only react with surprise: “What? Ten o’clock?” Yet everyone could still enjoy life because it was an era when capital hadn’t yet gained enough power to dominate every aspect of daily life.
Looking at today’s reality through the lens of individual lives makes the situation even clearer. Starting around age five or six, children learn English conversation, attend supplementary classes during vacations, and go to cram schools. In today’s terms, they must diligently build their ‘resume’ just to get a job, start a family, and make ends meet. There are virtually no other options. Therefore, it’s hardly fair for past generations, who lived in relatively leisurely times, to criticize today’s children or university students as selfish or conservative.
Capital has multiplied the number of potential workers—university students—several times over. Education has aimed to produce human beings who move precisely as corporations and the market demand. Those who rebel against “money,” speak for the public good, work autonomously and creatively, or are eccentric individuals breaking from the established order are rarely tolerated.
Seeing my daughter, now in her third year at a large corporation, makes this reality hit home even harder. Her once rosy, plump cheeks have grown gaunt, her cheekbones now prominently visible. The bright smile and vitality that once lit up her face have noticeably faded. Yet, she can’t easily quit. This is especially true when she thinks of friends still unemployed or bouncing between non-regular jobs like cram school instructors or telemarketers. While the salary is relatively high, the work itself is neither creative nor autonomous, making self-realization through labor difficult to expect. In that sense, it sometimes feels not much different from being unemployed. Money is solely about earning itself as the ultimate goal, rarely showing any interest in the self-realization of the working human.
Nevertheless, the wheel of dialectics keeps turning relentlessly today. I sometimes wonder if capital will inevitably be shaken and collapse under the contradictions it has created. If such a day ever comes, I hold onto the hope that the joyful summer vacations spent building walls with math books might welcome children once more.
I extend my gratitude to all of you who listened to these thoughts to the end.

Why Do We Hit Children?

I believe anyone who argues corporal punishment is necessary must at least answer two questions. The first is: Why do we think our youth only listen when we raise the rod, while students in Europe, Japan, and the United States receive education without corporal punishment? Currently, corporal punishment in schools is legally prohibited in most European countries and Japan. Japan explicitly defines corporal punishment as illegal under its School Education Act and does not permit it in educational settings. Similarly, many states in the United States have laws prohibiting corporal punishment in schools. Even in states that allow some forms of corporal punishment, explicit prior parental consent is often required. Furthermore, numerous jurisdictions stipulate that if a student refuses corporal punishment, it must be replaced with alternatives such as suspension, counseling, or other educational measures. Recently, many parents endure the hardships of being separated from their children to send their young kids abroad for education. Yet, we rarely hear stories of children being beaten with sticks while attending school overseas.
There is no reason to claim that our youth are particularly superior to children in other countries, but there is even less basis to suggest they are falling behind. There is also no evidence to suggest that individuals educated in Europe or Japan are inferior to those who completed their formal education in Korea. This leads us to ponder once more: Why must we resort to corporal punishment when our children are no worse than those in other countries, and when we are not providing them with an education that is particularly superior to that of other nations? Even without bringing up the painful memory of teachers during the Japanese colonial period telling students, “Korean bastards only listen when they’re beaten,” and then striking them, an education system that prioritizes corporal punishment cannot be endorsed, primarily because it stems from a fundamental lack of trust in students.
The second question is whether, by educating through hitting, we might implicitly teach the idea that ‘violence is acceptable for the right purpose.’ Let’s assume every teacher who uses corporal punishment thoroughly excludes personal feelings and wields the cane solely for educational purposes. Let’s further assume the means of corporal punishment remain within reasonable limits, not exceeding common sense. Suppose teachers, without personal bias, follow consistent standards and only use the rod in specific cases, allowing students to predict which actions will lead to punishment. Wouldn’t people raised in such an environment naturally come to believe that “there are things in this world that deserve a beating”? Wouldn’t they become bystanders, watching a classmate get hit and thinking, “That kid deserved it for doing that”? Going a step further, wouldn’t they step in, thinking they should correct a friend’s wrongdoing, even if it means hitting them? If someone doesn’t learn their lesson even after being hit, wouldn’t they start thinking they need to be hit harder to correct them? But is there any dangerous idea more harmful than the notion that “those who deserve it can be hit”? And wouldn’t their sensitivity to violence gradually dull as they become more accustomed to the blows?
William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” depicts children becoming desensitized to violence and consequently descending into an increasingly brutal world. The story begins after a nuclear war, with a group of boys stranded on a deserted island. Initially, the boys elect a leader through consensus and respect those with a voice, building a relatively democratic community. But as time passes, they gradually split into two factions and become hostile toward each other. Ralph, who insists they must light a beacon to signal for outside help, and Jack, who hunts wild boar and builds a military-like organization, become the leaders of their respective groups. To light the beacon or roast the hunted boar, they needed the lenses from Piggy’s glasses. The two groups could have easily shared the lenses with a little compromise and cooperation. Yet, they ultimately plunged into a world of senseless violence.
Responding to violence with violence ultimately multiplies the violence many times over. It is no different than adding another layer of darkness to a starless, pitch-black night sky. The children’s actions, starting with the minor violence of breaking one lens of Piggy’s glasses, gradually escalate into a battle where they wield spears against each other, finally reaching the stage where they kill one another without any hesitation. From Jack’s perspective, Ralph’s attitude—failing to become a hunter, failing to provide meat, yet only issuing orders and demanding obedience—is fundamentally flawed leadership. Therefore, he becomes a target that must be corrected, even if it means using force or violence.
The work does not explicitly reveal the root cause of why the children fall into this vicious cycle of violence. Whether it stems from the influence of the adults who started the nuclear war or is an inherent problem of human nature itself, the author does not provide a definitive answer. However, it is clearly revealed that the ultimate ‘evil’ is violence.
Corporal punishment has a fundamental limitation in that it instills the idea in both the person administering the blows and the person receiving them that it is acceptable to use violence to achieve one’s goals. Once violence etched into the body is never easily erased. Even the so-called ‘loving rod,’ claimed to be devoid of emotion, is no different in this regard. I am deeply grateful to all the teachers who taught me during my school days, and my respect for them remains unchanged. Yet, if asked whether even one of the beatings I endured while growing up ever guided me onto the right path, I can firmly say no. And in truth, every single one of those blows was invariably tinged with emotion. Wasn’t that the case for you too?
Can’t we now choose to rescue children from violence? Thank you for listening.

Living with the Left Hand

Among Panic’s songs is one titled “Left-Handed.” Looking closely at the lyrics, phrases appear like “Sometimes the world turns upside down,” “Because one or two kids like me cause a ruckus,” “Everyone must raise the same hand,” “Don’t scorn me with that look.” These lyrics symbolically reveal how left-handed people are treated as alien beings in a world where everyone lives as right-handed. In a world where everyone is right-handed, a left-handed person might be seen as something of a mutant.
In fact, I’ve been left-handed since childhood. I’m certainly not the only one born this way. Nevertheless, if you were to name countries where it’s difficult to live as a left-handed person, ours would never be left off the list. While perceptions toward left-handed people have somewhat softened recently compared to the past, societal standards and lifestyles remain firmly rooted around right-handedness.
Even if the notion that right-handedness is the default has been entrenched for ages, if left-handed people clearly exist, then appropriate facilities and daily necessities should naturally be provided for them. Yet the reality is far from this. Among my friends, there was even someone who was physically punished by their kindergarten teacher simply because they wrote with their left hand. While social awareness regarding children’s rights and educational methods has greatly improved today, and corporal punishment is clearly problematic, it remains undeniable that until very recently, children experienced violence and oppression solely because they were left-handed.
This discrimination and inconvenience weren’t confined to daily life. Just consider sports. My dream of becoming a shortstop in baseball was shattered by unfair prejudice. After hearing remarks like, “What kind of baseball player is a lefty?” and “Forget about being a shortstop,” I ultimately gave up on baseball. While the strategic value of left-handed pitchers and batters is widely recognized today, back then, left-handers weren’t even permitted to dream of certain positions.
The difficulties faced by left-handers don’t end there. Cutting with scissors is hard, and using a knife isn’t easy either. This is because most tools are designed with right-handed users in mind. While products for left-handers are gradually increasing, most everyday household items we encounter are still designed primarily for right-handed users.
Mealtime is also not a comfortable moment for left-handers. The person who must endure scolding from adults every time they eat—that is the left-hander. How many countries would casually say that someone born left-handed lacks proper home training? This reveals a facet of society that has long problematized those who fail to conform to uniform standards, showing a lack of respect for individual habits or physical characteristics.
Isn’t it time our society moved beyond unconditionally enforcing right-handed use? Shouldn’t we pay attention to left-handed people, start by creating a considerate educational environment for them in schools right now, and consider how to ensure left-handed daily necessities are naturally supplied? I hope our society can now begin to understand, even a little, the heartbreaking struggles of left-handed people who have striven to conform to the lifestyle of right-handed people in unseen ways.
Forcing someone to switch to right-handedness is not the solution. Rather, it is far more important to help left-handed people avoid inconvenience in daily life and to guide them in a direction that respects each individual’s physical characteristics and differences. A society that does not treat differences as mistakes, and one that does not turn a blind eye to the unseen hardships of minorities, is the kind of community we should strive to build. I sincerely thank you all for listening.

Youth Language Overrun by Insults

These days, so-called ‘insult battles’ have become a trend on the internet. It’s a kind of game where participants exchange profanities via chat or messenger, with the winner being the one who unleashes more provocative and severe insults to silence their opponent. Among smartphone applications, so-called ‘swearing apps’ that play recorded profanities in various voice actors’ voices are also circulating in significant numbers, attracting user interest. The largest consumer base for this ‘swearing culture’ is none other than teenagers. For them, swearing has transcended being a mere means of expression; it has become a form of play and an integral part of daily life. The joke circulating that if you recognize ‘X나’ as a curse word, you’re old-school, and if you don’t, you’re a teenager, speaks to how this gap in perception is already being discussed as a kind of social common knowledge.
The reality of our youth’s language use, almost addicted to profanity, has been confirmed once again through recent surveys by various government and public research institutions. The finding that seven out of ten respondents use profanity daily is by no means an exceptional figure. The problem’s scope is even broader, as it transcends gender distinctions among students and spans elementary, middle, and high school students. The diagnosis that everyday conversation itself feels difficult without using profanity is commonly raised not only by the youth themselves but also among teachers and parents.
Blaming only the children in the face of this reality is not appropriate. Adults, who have effectively neglected the situation until it reached this point, need to reflect first. If we want to correct it now, above all, the diagnosis of the cause must be accurate. As revealed in these survey results, the decisive catalyst for the rapid spread of profanity among youth is the internet environment. Many children are exposed to online games and various communities from kindergarten or early elementary school, naturally learning profanity. They then use these learned words in real life without even understanding their precise meaning, solidifying them into habit.
Furthermore, the fear of being excluded or bullied if they are the only one not using the same profanity as their peers acts as another factor fueling its spread.
Therefore, systematic measures to clean up language are needed across games, portal sites, and various online platforms frequently used by youth. It goes without saying that families and schools must clearly teach the meaning of profanity and the violence inherent in such language. Survey results showing that fewer than three out of ten teenagers accurately understand the meaning of the profanity they use further underscores the necessity of this education. The ‘Honorific Language Campaign’ practiced at Shindang Elementary School in Seoul is a noteworthy example in this context. At this school, children are guided to intentionally use honorifics, addressing each other as ‘○○-nim’. While initially awkward, the children reportedly show positive reactions over time, noting that avoiding profanity actually fosters closer friendships. It’s even said that some students who transferred to other schools couldn’t endure the atmosphere and returned, clearly demonstrating how profoundly the linguistic environment influences children’s relationship formation.
Ultimately, it has become clear that whether our youth can return to a society where polite language is used depends entirely on the choices and actions of adults. Even at this very moment, children’s language is being shaped by their immediate surroundings. We must no longer turn a blind eye to the fact that the responsibility to correct that environment falls squarely on the adults raising the next generation.