Swearing Hurts Your Reputation

Like most youths, you probably care about your appearance. You want to make a good impression. But did you know that how you speak can have a greater impact on others than how you look? The fact is, your speech can determine such things as

Whom you will attract as friends.
Whether you will be hired for a particular job or not
The amount of respect you will receive

It's true- often the initial impression people form of us based on our appearance quickly fades when we start talking. Says O'Connor: "You have no way of knowing how many opportunities to make a new friend you might have squelched, or how often you alienated someone or lost a degree of respect through your lackadaisical use of foul language." The lesson? If your speech is vulgar you're only hurting yourself.

Next time: Swearing Shows Disrespect For The Creator Of Speech

Awake!, 2008