I first learned about this video while listening to the D.L. Hugley radio show a couple of days ago. I finally took the time today to look up the video for myself before commenting about it.
First off, it's not the mother who recorded her toddler cursing; it was her teenaged brother and his friend.
Second, while I'm sure the toddler does have the occasional "slip of the tongue," it's clear that he was being encouraged to curse by his uncle and his female friend.
Third, kids do curse as the videos in post #22 clearly illustrate. Doesn't matter if the child is Black or White, from the worse ghetto environment, and decent middle-class home or rural area. They pick up on what they hear and if they hear YOU as the older, more responsible person speaking a certain way they're likely to repeat what YOU say such as the case of the little girl talking on the cellphone with the adult male sitting right next to her laughing about it.
Now, are some of these situations with kids using adult language funny? Yes, sometimes such as when it happens spontaneously - again, such as the little girl on the cellphone. But there are clearly times when it's not funny, such as the toddler being encouraged to curse. Not funny!
I don't blame the mom in this case. She claims she wasn't aware that her child was being recorded nor that the video was posted. She sounds sincere in the CNN interview so I'll take her word for it. Still, the question is how often is this child exposed to this type of negative behavior, specifically, how often is he left w/his uncle who clearly encourages such negative behavior? As a 16-yr old mother, she may not have much control over how often her child is left in her brother's surroundings especially if she, her child and her brother all live "in momma's house". Nonetheless, you can't sweep this incident under the rug. The brother needs to be dealt with by both his sister and especially his mom and told in no uncertain terms encouraging his nephew to talk that way is wrong and will not be tolerated. Other than that, I'm not sure what else need be done.
Sidenote: While I have no idea what the social/criminal environment is like in Omaha, NE, it's clear that the local Police Union believes it has a big problem with unruly Black kids in the city and figured that by posting the video of a little Black kid starting out young behaving badly it would get the attention of local authorities and the (White) community to crack down on thuggish behavior. If that is the case, I'd say they went about it the wrong way! The only thing "thuggist" about this video is the older kids using profanity in the presence of a toddler and encouraging said toddler to repeat what they say. You want to get onto somebody, get onto the teens behaving badly. But don't try to use a kid as the poster child for thuggish behavior. The Omaha City Police Department were right in condemning the Union's posting of the video especially if it was done as a Black and White issue.
