School girls pledge no cursing

NORTH ARLINGTON, N.J. - Girls at a Catholic high school in North Jersey have taken a no-cursing pledge at the request of school administrators, though some question why no such demand was made of boys.

Lori Flynn, a teacher who organized the campaign at Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, told the Record of Woodland Park there was no double standard. She said although boys weren't asked to take the vow, they have been asked not to swear when girls are near.

Flynn says school officials want "ladies to act like ladies." Brother Larry Lavallee, the principal, says girls have the foulest language.

Many girls said they would try to keep the pledge they took Friday morning, even though they believe it should apply to all students.

Sixteen-year-old Kaitlin McEnery said the pledge was a good idea but believes "putting it into action is the problem." Classmate Dana Cotter, 16, thought male students should take the pledge because "boys should be more like gentlemen."

The teachers said they hoped that if the girls focused on cleaning up their speech on campus for a month, their improved manners would rub off on the boys. They timed the initiative to Catholic Schools Week and Valentine's Day, promising lollipops as rewards and handing out pins showing a red slash through a pair of pink lips.

"It's unattractive when girls have potty mouths," Nicholas Recarte, 16, said.

A pitcher on the school baseball team, Recarte said that he could not help shouting obscenities from the mound after mishaps and that he did not expect that to change.