A man named Timothy Boother was charged with profanity for cursing as he fell from a canoe. There is a difference between using profanity in an offensive or insulting manner, and using it without cruel intent or harsh-filled meaning. I do agree that profanity should not be tolerated in schools, and the rules and punishments for these cases should be enforced by the teachers and other staff members. On the other hand, Cases like Timothy Boother
s have been thrown completely out of proportion.
The Mississippi Code of 1972, SEC. 97-29-47 states that:  
If any person shall profanely swear or curse, or use vulgar and indecent language, or be drunk in any public place, in the presence of two or more persons, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned in the county jail for not more than thirty days or both.
  How could you imprison a person based on someone else
s opinion of what is considered vulgar or indecent language? A nine year-old boy was fined and punished for saying 
fat cow
 followed by a profanity. This nine year-old boy didn
t learn these words by himself. He learned them from watching the television or listening to the radio.  Before punishing the child, shouldn
t we try to regulate the examples he is following?  Howard Stern has been publicly recognized for his careless language on his radio show.  If he is not prosecuted, then why are we punishing the children who follow his example?  If the government is filtering common American
s mouths, why do we permit our children
s role models to use the vulgar language?  If it is okay for Howard Stern to use such numerous, continuous profanities over the public radio, don
t punish people in cases where certain 
vulgar
 words are used as a reaction to a shock or surprise.  
Sexual Harassment isn
t illegal until the offender fails to stop the harassment after being told that he is making the victim uncomfortable.  This is a great law.  Why shouldn
t profanity be legal until the offender is asked to stop?  
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