Recently my hometown newspaper ran a story about how the board of education at my old high school is so upset about the profanity being used at the school that they had a meeting about it, voted in favor of really cracking down on it, and how it’s so damn important (excuse my French).

Um, really? Is profanity really worth our tax dollars and time and attention so much—particularly so much more than the kids themselves are?

Here’s the thing. If you’re so concerned about the level and frequency of its use, increased discipline isn’t going to do anything but cause resentment. Sure the kids might stop cussing in front of you—and I suppose that’s all you want, isn’t it?—but they’re only going to hate you even more in the end.

Here is the thing: teens are pretty much powerless in the average public school. Sure, in some democratic schools (or even in certain classrooms; I know some democratic teachers who work in public schools) they might have a bit of a voice; but essentially they have no say in what they do all day long. They are given zero choices and then sent out in the world to make a dozen a minute upon graduation. They are zipped from one class to another with no processing time, given enough homework to count for yet another school day afterward, and often expected to work a job, do chores, help with the family, and maybe even do an extracurricular here or there—all while getting a fraction of the 10 hours a night experts recommend for growing teens with bodies changing so rapidly.

Let’s also not forget all of the issues that teens are going through today—the rises in eating disorders and teen pregnancy, the sexual violence, the way so many turn to sex and drugs when they’re being abused or neglected at home, not to mention all of the confusing constant bombardment of technology and media they’re exposed to nearly every moment of the day now.

It seems to me that cursing is a coping mechanism—one of the very few things that teens DO have control over—and if we want to stop it for real, not just for our own motives but to actually help teens, we’re going to have to do a lot more than crack down with mouth soap, rules, or consequences.

We’re going to have to treat teens as people—with real input into their real lives, with respect, with dignity, with care about what the hell happens to them at home, at the job, between the bullies on the bus and lunchtime. We’re going to have to do better than a 33% dropout rate, than standardized tests that don’t work, than making them memorize facts instead of actually equipping them with things they will need for jobs that don’t even exist yet—such as critical thinking, creativity, real mastery of a subject, and so many more things that are necessary in the world of work and living that don’t even come close to being addressed in most public classrooms.

Gentlemen, I’d say swearing is the least of your worries; the future of this country and the lives of the children that you hold in your hands should be at the top of your list instead.