Some f-words are nicer than others, according to one British school. While it is terrible to use the word failure because such a dirty word may sting youthful egos, damaging them irreparably, The Other F-Word is A-OK… unless you use it more than five times in a single class, that is. Perhaps tired of being disciplinarians, the instructors at this British school will themselves bite the soap and "tolerate (although not condone)" a "limited" use of the f-word that your mama would have, or should have, cleaned your clock for using in her presence:
"A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers — as long as they don’t do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be ‘spoken’ to at the end of the lesson.
[...]
"’Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score,’ [assistant headmaster Richard White] wrote in the letter [explaining the policy].
"’Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson.’"
On the bright side, some Brits do see a problem with the policy:
"Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said the policy was based on ‘Alice in Wonderland reasoning.’
"’What next?’ she asked. ‘Do we allow people to speed five times or burgle five times? You don’t improve something by allowing it, you improve something by discouraging it.’"
And the education establishment wonders why homeschooling is so popular.
