I don't think we're doing any good by trying to shield young impressionable minds from swear words. For one, they likely already know these words anyway.
And besides, I think intent is far more important than what word was actually used. Censoring the word itself does not stop someone from being insulting or derogatory. When being told the following two sentences…
- That was a fucking awesome move you played.
- Hurry up you slow idiot. I swear you're doing this on purpose, you jerk.
I would be more offended at the second one even though nothing would be censored (except by those with the most draconian settings that would render the board completely unreadable).
And besides, it's not like censoring will mask the intent. If I'm told, "You're such a #&%*," then I'm going to assume that the person just insulted me. It doesn't matter what word that was; it's been censored, so I'm going to assume the worst, even if it wasn't really an insult. If someone lovingly calls me a putananny, which is the greatest honor you can call someone in his country, I wouldn't know because "puta" got censored. So I'll respond to that person with hostility because it looks like he called me a bad name.
Sometimes people get way too sensitive about things they can't control anyway. Censorship won't stop jerks from spouting off vitriol. Moderators can help, because they can read the intent. The bad thing is moderators can only fix problems after they happen. That's life.[/li][/list]