The canteen teacher at Hilfertsheem College in Hilversum has had enough of students swearing about the word ‘cancer’. Anyone who catches them using the swear word must put 50 cents in a piggy bank. The first ten euros has already been received.
Canteen teacher Simone van Eijden came up with the campaign together with a colleague, because she often hears students using the word cancer. She does not understand why they do this and thinks that many are unaware of the meaning of the word. “For a lot of children it is just not nice to hear. Parents are sick or grandfather and grandmother died of it. I’m just fed up”, she says. NH News.
Money box
When she hears the swear word, she takes out her piggy bank and addresses the student. “Children react giggly, but they do pay. They really can’t ignore me.” The canteen teacher hopes that other schools will also set up such an action.
The students understand it. “It’s not okay if you put it that way,” says one student. Another student is hit when fellow students use the swear word. His mother has cancer right now: “I have such a feeling that children say it to feel cool or to want to belong.”
Proceeds to KWF
The money that the canteen teacher collects is donated to the Dutch Cancer Society KWF. There they fully support the action: “Swearing with this word is unacceptable, hurtful and unnecessary. It is good if someone with such an action makes children aware of this.”
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