Shannon in TN Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I heard about this on Glenn Beck this morning about NY schools banning certain words like "dinosaur" and "birthday" on tests. *cough*homeschool*cough* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120870/Political-correctness-run-amok-New-York-City-schools-ban-terms-like-dinosaur-Halloween-tests.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 That just made me seriously laugh. Dinosaur might offend someone who doesn't believe in evolution? And birthday might offend a Jehovah's Witness? Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Crazy! Just because someone doesn't believe in evolution doesn't mean they don't believe in dinosaurs. I doubt that JW are offended because other people celebrate birthdays. Sometimes I think we offend the people we are trying not to offend by telling them what they find offensive. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Really:001_huh: Pretty soon you won't be able to wear a pink shirt because it might offend someone. Or pierce your ears...where does the insanity stop! I'm offended ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Stop it! Just stop! I am so offended by this thread! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 In the words of the sublime Bob Newhart... STOP IT. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicAnn Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Crazy! Just because someone doesn't believe in evolution doesn't mean they don't believe in dinosaurs. I doubt that JW are offended because other people celebrate birthdays. Sometimes I think we offend the people we are trying not to offend by telling them what they find offensive. Kelly Yeah, as a Witness, I can't imagine the JW population there making an issue out of the word birthday on a test. :001_rolleyes: We don't celebrate birthdays, but the word is still used! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Amazing that trying to appease certain groups who oppose Halloween, divorce, and the notion of evolution is being criticized. I'd think there'd be widespread celebrations that "we've won!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbmom Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Neither the Daily Mail or The NY Post are very reputable sources though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 It simply leaves me scratching my head in wonder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Neither the Daily Mail or The NY Post are very reputable sources though... :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Amazing that trying to appease certain groups who oppose Halloween, divorce, and the notion of evolution is being criticized. I'd think there'd be widespread celebrations that "we've won!" Why would you assume that a person who doesn't support such things supports restricted speech? For those who don't believe the Daily Mail is reputable, here it is in CBS. Not that difficult to find another article from a 'more reputable' paper. Edited March 27, 2012 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon in TN Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Neither the Daily Mail or The NY Post are very reputable sources though... When I googled it, the daily mail was the first article on the list. There were several other articles from other news sources, too. Enough to make me think it's true, which is sad.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Boy, it just gets weirder and weirder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Yeah, as a Witness, I can't imagine the JW population there making an issue out of the word birthday on a test. :001_rolleyes: We don't celebrate birthdays, but the word is still used! :iagree: I don't hide from those that do not believe what I believe. I teach my children about all belief systems and we hit on as many cultural traditions from within the US and around the world as we can because that is part of being well-educated. So what if someone doesn't believe what we believe? We aren't offended; we seek to understand others better. So even if I were naive enough to not believe in dinosaurs (which obviously is not my mental reality), I would still teach about them so my children would understand what others believe. No offense necessary. It's just soooooo stupid. Those who easily take offense will be offended by ANYTHING. What next? They ban all personal conversations in case some child somewhere gets offended because one family plays soccer, but another plays basketball????? "Where does it end? "Oh, I'm offended because we don't wear purple but you do!" ????? :confused: It also cracks me up that they are keeping ballet. Well, I know some people would be offended because well, male ballet leotards leave nothing to the imagination. We love ballet, but I've heard of people who wouldn't let their kids participate because of the costumes. So, somewhere there is some New York parent that is offended by ballet. I guess the ignorant, conversation police didn't think of that! I'll have to email them so they'll know they should remove ballet too.....:glare: Maybe they can replace it with English Country Dancing ala Jane Austen, or the minuet. :D Good grief! Someone should hand these people a course in Logic! (Oh and I read it on our local news website in their US news portion...this was for NBC's local station. So, Daily Mail aside, I think it is verifiably true.) Faith Edited March 27, 2012 by FaithManor Let something out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 The Language Police, by Diane Ravitch, is a fascinating read about this. It's not a new problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I just read this on abcnews.com. I'm not sure whether to :lol: or:001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenC Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Does anyone have a link with a list of the banned words? Thanks, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Does anyone have a link with a list of the banned words? Thanks, Karen Inquiring minds want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon in TN Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Does anyone have a link with a list of the banned words? Thanks, Karen The CBS link in a pp has the full list. I'm on my phone so I can't easily link it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological) Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs Birthday celebrations (and birthdays) Bodily functions Cancer (and other diseases) Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes) Celebrities Children dealing with serious issues Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia) Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting) Crime Death and disease Divorce Evolution Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes Gambling involving money Halloween Homelessness Homes with swimming pools Hunting Junk food In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge Loss of employment Nuclear weapons Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling) Parapsychology Politics Pornography Poverty Rap Music Religion Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan) Rock-and-Roll music Running away Sex Slavery Terrorism Television and video games (excessive use) Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters) Vermin (rats and roaches) Violence War and bloodshed Weapons (guns, knives, etc.) Witchcraft, sorcery, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 The thing is that cultural bias in testing is a known recognizable problem. It looks like this is an attempt to even the playing field. :iagree: They're not saying that students can't use these words. They aren't saying that students can't write about these topics. They aren't even saying that the words can't be taught, discussed, or written about in classes - at least that's what I understood from reading the CBS article. This list is in reference to standardized testing and is an attempt to provide guidance to test writers. Doing well on standardized tests can often have more to do with whether or not you come from the same cultural understanding as the test writer than it measures what a student has learned. This really isn't all that revolutionary. ftr, it would be nice to find a article that wasn't quite so inflammatory. I don't think the CBS article is any better than the others. The collective freak out on this leaves me kind of :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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