Do you cringe when you see an adult behaving badly—speaking rudely, cursing a blue streak, being verbally or even physically abusive—in front of young children? You have good reason to worry about the effects that simply observing such conduct could have on impressionable minds.

The old adage “Do as I say, not as I do” comes to mind, because it has been scientifically proven that young children who are exposed to negative adult behavior will be more likely to mimic that conduct...