Thursday, August 15, 2013




War On Words: NYC Dept. Of Education Wants 50 ‘Forbidden’ Words Banned From Standardized Tests

The New York City Department of Education is waging a war on words of sorts, and is seeking to have words they deem upsetting removed from standardized tests.

Fearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests.

The word “dinosaur” made the hit list because dinosaurs suggest evolution which creationists might not like, WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond reported. “Halloween” is targeted because it suggests paganism; a “birthday” might not be happy to all because it isn’t celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Words that suggest wealth are excluded because they could make kids jealous. “Poverty” is also on the forbidden list.

Also banned are references to “divorce” and “disease,” because kids taking the tests may have relatives who split from spouses or are ill.

There are banned words currently in school districts nationwide. Walcott said New York City’s list is longer because its student body is so diverse.

Source

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the days of actual discussions about diversity are over. Now we try and talk about diversity without actually discussing the topics that make us diverse.

Brian from Rochester NY said...

If this keeps up, we'll only need one page for all dictionaries.

Do these people even realize the damage they are doing to our culture, language and children?

Does anyone else see 'Farenheit 451' on the horizon?

Dean said...

Stan and Brian, you're absolutely correct.

Articles like this make me weep for our society and feel shame for the profession I followed for thirty five years.

What is there about being an educator that destroys the ability to reason, accept reality and allow children to control their own lives?

Anonymous said...

I would think that just living in Fascist NYC would be enough to make anyone feel "unpleasant".

"Political correctness is a far greater threat to our freedom and liberty than is terrorism..."

Anonymous said...

I think Orwell's "1984" predated "Farenheit 451" as apropos in this case!

Anonymous said...

Here is a shorter way to the destination liberals are taking us; just ban talking!

If nobody is allowed to talk you can't risk "offending" anyone.

Anonymous said...

"We are living in a world in which nobody is free, in which hardly anybody is secure, in which it is almost impossible to be honest and to remain alive.”

- George Orwell – 1937

Anonymous said...

“Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”

-Potter Stewart

Anonymous said...

You are all quite right in your comments. Yet we, as a society, just sit there and tolerate these things. That begs the question, "is there really a limit to the amount of abuse we will tolerate"?