Swear and you're out

School students are cursing - under their breath - all the way home.

Ten pupils at a Rotorua school have been stood down for swearing in class, as teachers enforce a "zero tolerance" crackdown on bad language.

The hard line enforcement comes as research reveals New Zealanders are among the most foul-mouthed in the world - although still trailing their Australians cousins.

Schools are no longer allowed to wash students' mouths out with soap but Rotorua Lakes High School has come down hard on swearing students after introducing a new policy this month to curb what principal Bruce Walker calls "unacceptable behaviour".

"It's a form of bullying and a form of violence," he said.

The students were stood down for up to five days - two for swearing at teachers and the rest for swearing in class.

Walker described the process as a "short, sharp, shock".

After the stand-down period, the student returns to the school with their parents and must sign a bond agreeing to behave for the rest of their time at the school.

Walker said the students were mainly from Year 9. "I don't think they even stop and think. A curse word is just another adjective."

School Board of Trustees chair Peter Harington said the type of language for which students were disciplined was the "worst of the worst".

"It's no-holds-barred, it's the whole range."

The new policy had been well received in the community, he said. "We've had people ringing the school and saying 'good on you.' It's about slipping standards."

New Zealand's attitudes to swearing have become more relaxed compared to the United States and Britain, according to University of Queensland language expert Professor Roly Sussex.

While "bloody" would have been punished in a classroom 50 years ago, now it and other swear words were creeping into common use, he said.

Sussex said Australian comedian Rob Stitch broke the taboo about seven years ago when he used the "F" word on the TV talk show The Panel.

The station received only two letters of complaint about the incident. Sussex commended Rotorua Lakes High's policy.

"I think all strength to their bow. Unless someone does this I think we will get swamped."