A New Jersey high school has asked its female students to stop cursing so that the girls can start acting "like ladies," but made no such request to the male students.
Lori Flynn, a teacher at Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, NJ who organized the no-cursing pledge, told The Record that school officials wanted "ladies to act like ladies." The school's principal Larry Lavallee agreed, stating that the female students have the foulest language.
Because the male students were asked "not to swear in the presence of ladies," some of the students acknowledged the pledge's double standard. However, female students complied, even admitting that cursing "doesn't make you look educated" and that it's "unattractive when girls have potty mouths."
The school is hoping that the girls will set an example for the boys. Having the girls promise not to curse for a month, Flynn timed the initiative to Catholic Schools Week and Valentine’s Day, offering lollipops as rewards and pins with a red slash through a pair of pink lips.
At 8:20am Friday morning, a group of girls took the oath in front of cameras for the student news show while the rest of the female student population stood in homeroom and raised their right hands. The girls pledged the following oath, “I do solemnly swear not to use profanities of any kind within the walls and properties of Queen of Peace High School,” they said in unison. “In other words, I swear not to swear. So help me God.”