Creeping Crudity

Although I wouldn't consider myself a prude, I'm very concerned about the crude language that now flows unabashedly from the mouths of our youth. Today's films seem to infer that "toilet" language is the current normal language of our civilization. The F-word is used not only as a verb, but as an adjective, a noun, and a hyphenated middle for a compound word. Courteous restraint appears to have been cast aside on the assumption that all consider gutter language acceptable. As a school English teacher, while the language in class is properly respectful, the language in the halls is frequently appalling. The language decline does not appear to be one-sided. Women and men are equal abusers. I'm not sure what has caused the acceptance of blatant profanity. I once taught a class in a drop-out prevention program and, when the students figured out that I wouldn't use profanity in class, one asked me, "Are you a preacher?" Although I'm not a minister, I do have a reverent respect for appropriate language.