Given his age he probably spends a fair amount of time in a school bus and with peers in school. These situations are rich sources of interesting vocabulary and he will actually need some of this just to keep up. That is perfectly normal at this age, and there is nothing you can do to totally prevent him from using this words.

In our house we set clear rules about what language is acceptable, when other family members are around. The consequence was always "I don't want to hear these words. If you feel you must use them please do so in the privacy of your bedroom". In other words: time out until your done swearing. This is done quickly and without any further discussion or big drama. The first few times they went happily to their rooms and swore up a blue streak (which OF COURSE they know how to do) but after a while that gets boring and loses the "forbidden fruit" allure, so they stopped and went back to normal.

Personally, I fell spanking and soap in mouth are gross overreactions. You are physically manhandling the child for something that all of his peers and 95% of all adults are doing on a regular basis (which he certainly knows). Many kids want attention, even negative attention. By making a big deal out of this, you actually give him what he wants and encourage the bad behavior.

Given his age he probably spends a fair amount of time in a school bus and with peers in school. These situations are rich sources of interesting vocabulary and he will actually need some of this just to keep up. That is perfectly normal at this age, and there is nothing you can do to totally prevent him from using this kind of words.

In our house we set clear rules about what language is acceptable, when other family members are around. The consequence was always "I don't want to hear these words. If you feel you must use them please do so in the privacy of your bedroom". In other words: time out until your done swearing. This is done quickly and without any further discussion or big drama. The first few times they went happily to their rooms and swore up a blue streak (which OF COURSE they know how to do) but after a while that gets boring and loses the "forbidden fruit" allure, so they stopped and went back to normal.

Personally, I feel spanking and soap in mouth are gross overreactions. You are physically manhandling the child for something that all of his peers and 95% of all adults are doing on a regular basis (which he certainly knows). Many kids want attention, even negative attention. By making a big deal out of this, you actually give him what he wants and encourage the bad behavior.