Using bad words can leave you cursed.

Byline: AARON BROWN 20Below News Team / The Register-Guard

Most of us probably have cussed at least once or twice in our lives.

I can think of a few people who probably have never cursed. I can also think of a few, maybe more, who have cursed a million times.

It is not uncommon to hear profanity spoken these days. Someone would have a better chance of escaping from a maximum-security prison than escaping from the sound of obscenities.

G-rated language is something that seems to have disappeared. However, I am not one of those people who thinks no one should ever swear, that we should all pretend we are at Disneyland talking to Mickey Mouse.

Are the people who cuss bad, or wrong? I don't think so.

Take a look at the leaders of our country. I'd bet you'd hear more cursing in a conversation between a pair of congressmen than you would from two drunks in a bar fight.

Cursing is ingrained in business as well. It's just the way people talk.

Does that mean we should teach our kids to curse to prepare them for the world? Definitely not. I suppose there's always hope the little tyke will grow up with a clean vocabulary; it's just not likely.

I admit, I've been known to curse up a storm - sometimes even a hurricane. I never gave it a second thought; it was just the way I talked. It usually wasn't hurtful, and usually, it was said in fun.

But I witnessed an incident recently that has taken the fun away.

I was in a toy store where I saw some little kids playing. One of the mothers told her son it was time to go, and naturally, the kid got mad. But then, he proceeded to curse out his mother, right in the middle of the store, filthy words pouring from what had seemed to be a sweet child.

I could not believe my ears. Never before had I heard such a young child say such awful things.

A sick feeling invaded my stomach. Ever since, I've felt guilty whenever I cussed. For a while, any profanity I heard seemed to fly out of the person's mouth and stick into me like a spear.

I've gotten over that feeling, but it still makes me think. When cursing harms the innocent, I think it's wrong.

Is it ever appropriate to swear? Depends on the situation.

In most groups of friends, everyone's language is pretty much the same; they either curse or refrain from cursing. Cursing among friends doesn't seem out of place.

What about other situations? I'd probably still blurt out a profanity if I were to lose in a football video game or get angry at some punk on the road trying to cut me off.

Anyway, I have been trying to curse a lot less.

Profanity in our culture certainly has increased over the years. You could blame it on a lot of things: people who are less shy about expressing their emotions, the loosening of morals, or simply the presence of more rude people.

Or maybe we just curse because we darn well want to.

Aaron Brown is a senior at Churchill High. He can be reached by e-mail at 20Below@ guardnet.com.