Don't say the "S" word

When you hear a child talk about the "S" word you would think of the... "S" word, right? Well in our class that is not the case.
On a day like every other day one of my students, we will call him Sam,  happened to say a word that set one of my other students, we will call him Fred, off. He was having a meltdown, plugging his ears,yelling, "Don't say that! "Don't say that!". Once Fred got a little bit calmed down Sam decided to say it again. Fred once again continued with his melt down while Sam and the rest of the class started laughing.
What kind of word, you ask yourself, could get such a reaction from this third grader? The word is... SNAIL. Yep you read right, snail is the "S" word in our class. We are not allowed to say it in here. In fact, when the "S" word is said you have to drop a level on our discipline level system.
I had a meeting with his mother and mentioned the "S" word. She immediately threw her head back and said, "OH MY GOSH!" and started laughing. I asked her why the word bothered him so bad. She said that one day she saw one on the sidewalk and showed Fred. He was totally disgusted by it. From then on he has hated the word.
One day I was gone from the class and when I returned the next day Sam came up to me and said that he had to drop a level because he said the "S" word. At first thought I was thinking the real "S" word. However, after further thinking I realized what "S" word he was talking about. Just to make sure I was right I wanted to ask him. I called him over and I asked, "What 'S' word did you say Sam?" he got really close and whispered in my ear, "Snail" then quickly pulled away and covered his mouth. It took everything in me not to start laughing. I said, "Oh darn, ya that isn't nice to say when it bothers someone else, huh?" He shook his head.
Well, even though Sam knows that it bothers Fred he loves to get the reaction. One day we were having free time. Sam was sitting next to Fred and was quietly drawing.  After a few moments Sam put down his pencil and slowly slid his paper towards Fred. Fred started screaming! And Sam quickly pulled the paper back onto his desk and tried amking that, "I'm innocent" look on his face. Well, you guessed it he had drawn a perfect picture of a snail on his paper.
It is moments like this that I have to turn my back to hide my giggle. I will never be able to say the, "S" word without a big smile crossing my face.