Shocking images of Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy snarling, swearing and getting into the face of referee Jonathan Moss earlier this year were seen by millions of fans around the world and must have encouraged the English Premier League to introduce a clampdown on “intolerable behaviour” towards officials.
This season, players who “confront match officials and use offensive, insulting and abusive language and/or gestures towards them” should automatically receive a red card.
If only we had cameras in the classroom. It feels as though abusive language in schools is on the increase. Last term, I was sworn at more frequently than at any other in my teaching career, from the prosaic “f**k you” to the more creative “poofy head” - and I don’t think I’m alone.
Having the power to effectively sanction a pupil for abusing their teacher would initially cause a logjam of work for senior management teams, but would also remove a major humiliation for teachers. Just now, pupils swear at us and nothing happens.
Perhaps it is a societal shift that teachers simply have to adapt to. When watching Scotland’s boy next door, Andy Murray, cussing his way to a gold medal at the Olympics with barely a mention from the commentator, it was clear that bad language has been moving into the mainstream.
Education authorities should either have a policy of zero tolerance or agree that swearing is allowed for all
Not only do children have easier access to uncensored material through their computers but they are also more likely to hear swearing and, unfortunately, be sworn at in their homes.
Not long ago, a pupil showed me a text message from his mother: “U had better be back for tea, ya wee c**t.” So perhaps it is simply tilting at windmills to hope that being sworn at in the classroom can be brought to an end with some form of punishment.
There is an alternative, though. Judge Patricia Lynch recently swore back at a defendant who abused her as he was sentenced in Chelmsford Crown Court. Imagine teachers having the satisfaction of following suit - as well as allowing them to release the stress of being abused, it could also defuse the power of the words, letting the abuser know that this language could be used by anyone.
Furthermore, the swearer might be less likely to use offensive language again, because they would know how it felt to be so disrespected.
I think a tipping point has been reached. Our education authorities should either have a policy of zero tolerance to abusive language - as in the case of the English Premier League - or we should agree that swearing in the classroom is allowed for all parties. The current scenario where our only weapon is to say “Don’t call me that” is not enough.
Gordon Cairns is an English and Forest School teacher in Glasgow
