Joanna Fortune: My three-year-old thinks it's funny to use swear words 

"Swear words can, initially, sound funny coming from a toddler’s mouth. But when we laugh we teach our children that this is entertaining and something we enjoy"

Pic: iStock

My three-year-old daughter has started to use swear words — she has probably picked them up in playschool. I’ve asked her to stop, saying it’s rude but she thinks it’s funny and keeps swearing and often in front of my friends, which is embarrassing. What can I do?

Most parents have faced this issue at some point. From the age of approximately two, children explore language in broader and deeper ways. Their use of swear words is typically accidental — new words interest them and new sounds are fun and playful to try out. Cause-and-effect thinking is still underdeveloped but even at this age, they like to make us laugh.