Dax Shepard Shares His Perspective on Allowing Swearing at Home for His Kids
Dax Shepard has some unconventional guidelines regarding his and Kristen Bell‘s children using curse words.
“I freely swear in front of my kids. They can swear, not without consequences, but when it’s appropriate, and they deliver it well, and it’s within the house—not at a restaurant—it’s fine,” Shepard, 50, shared on the Monday, July 28 episode of his “Armchair Expert” podcast.
“My justification is, I told the girls, ‘Hey, these are just sounds that come from your mouth, and you get to decide what they mean to you,’” he added.
Shepard and Bell, 45, are the parents of daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10.
While Shepard believes swearing isn’t an issue in their home, guest Seth Meyers offered a contrasting viewpoint. He mentioned that he and his wife Alexi Ashe aim to prevent their children—son Ashe, 9, son Axel, 7, and daughter Adelaide, 3—from using foul language.
“Occasionally, the kids will curse, and she’ll glance at me as if they picked it up from me,” Meyers, 51, explained. “And I’m thinking, we walked them to school in New York City. Just yesterday, someone was on the phone saying, ‘Tell them to f*** around and find out.’ The kids were like, ‘What does that mean?’ I’m like, ‘Well…’”
He added, “For us, it’s the worry that they might bring it to school. … Moreover, let’s not underestimate the differences between girls and boys. With my daughter, I have 100% faith. You could say, ‘Here’s this word, don’t use it at school.’ The boys?”
“They’ll say it right away,” Shepard concurred.
Nevertheless, Shepard noted that their kids are likely already encountering curse words from their peers at school.
“There’s no way you’re preventing that,” he stated.
“You simply don’t want them saying it in front of a teacher,” Meyers remarked.
Meyers humorously added that the real disappointment isn’t when kids curse, but when they “imitate your delivery” of the word.
“Because I admit I have a bad habit. When Alexi and I have even the slightest disagreement, I might say something like, ‘Jesus Christ,’ while leaving the room. Just the other day, I heard Ashe say, ‘Jesus Christ.’ I thought, ‘Okay, we need to have a talk,’” he shared.
Bella had previously discussed her and Shepard’s stance on their kids using curse words during a 2020 appearance on Good Morning America’s Strahan, Sara & Keke. She revealed back then that they mostly overlooked it when Lincoln or Delta accidentally cursed, believing that overreacting—like laughing—would encourage their kids to use those words more frequently. However, Shepard eventually had to address one particular word with Lincoln.
“You never told me f*** was a bad word,” Lincoln reportedly told them after school one day.
“Dax had the best response, yet again,” Bell continued. “He said, ‘Listen, you’re a kid. There are many things you can’t do until you grow up. Driving my car, drinking alcohol, voting, and swearing are among them.’”
“It’s as simple as that,” Bell concluded.
