This story is so bizarre that I had to check it twice to make sure it was not an early April Fool’s joke. The New York City Department of Education has barred the use of “Dinosaur” on tests to avoid upsetting people who believe creationism. Putting aside the fact that creationists do not deny that dinosaurs existed, the decision is to bar the use of a reference to an entire species because a fact might insult religious sensibilities.
Educations in New York decided that, with such things as Halloween and dancing, the reference to dinosaurs “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.” Also banned is the word “evolution.” It is basically designing a test for Sarah Palin to pass.
“Birthday” is also out because Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays.
The problem with this type of self-censorship is that runs against a core value of public education. I have been a long advocate of public educations and we have kept our kids in the public schools. Public schools are a core foundation for civil society — training future citizens in a shared and pluralistic environment. A child must learn not to be “distracted” by references to evolution because it is an accepted scientific fact in the world. It is part of the learning process and is itself a measurement of educational development. The same can be said for the realities of dancing and birthdays. Political correctness is being allowed to trump intellectual content.
Here are the other words on the list:
Here is the complete list of words that could be banned:
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.
Source: Daily Mail
There’s nothing left to talk about.
I hope the story is a hoax.
Yeah, let’s just hope it was a study, done by a woman, right ANON.
Knew that would get your eye and approval. Who said no to you little man?
(He attacked me first!!!!! What a laugh, that won’t be repeated)
I wonder how many are bribed. I mean it’s hard to imagine such concentrated numbskullery otherwise. Maybe it’s just to get revenge for not getting that raise they wanted.
I mean you can’t even trust the garbage man or the dog catcher nowadays.
NY Post seems to be the ultimate source of this:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/out_of_the_question_YegJJGCOo33j0CQsccdZuL
Judging from the rest of the page content, I think we can wait a few minutes. Let the NYC DOE chime in.
Yeah, I know I’m suspicious by nature.
For the School District in NYC to NOT use the word “dinosaur” in order to NOT “insult” fundamentalists is ABSOLUTELY ABSURD! Now, we are limiting the instruction of not only history, but also biology. There is definitely something VERY wrong with appeasement….it will ONLY make matters worse ultimately! (just ask P.M. Chamberlain about that.)
Really now….. Next you’ll have to cease using Native Americans…… We would not want to offend the aboriginal folks……
and some wonder why we lacking behind many countries.
My first thoughts would be to blame this on idiot feminists that love to attention whore by emblazoning everything they do with the badges of all the different “trigger warnings” they suffer from: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/04/16/trigger-warnings-and-being-an-asshole/
Because you can be assured the NY DOE is filled with feminists and social workers unable to find a productive job.
But I have to admit, the best comment on this from FARK was by someone who referenced the Handicapper General and was about to make an interesting remark on the subject when cymbals and other crashing noices went off in his ears.
Blaming this on our cultural Taliban is also not a bad direction to go in, of course, this just winds around to feminists at the DOE again.
Okay, I get upset with algebra, etc. That should be banned as well. And chemistry!
If this is true then the students should be wearing their tee shirts with a dinosaur picture front and back, along with their hoodies, to school tomorrow.
Get it together NYC parents. Put the dinosaurs back in school where they belong.
Isn’t eating a bodily function? Yes, but McDonalds has approved it.
Does anyone believe it has a limit?
I suspect they (and the principal) got their training with the Talibans or was it the CIA?
Now shall we discuss the vanilla ice cream we just ate?
“No, that is a suspicious homonym to “I scream”—-forbidden, forbidden, forbidden.” Shut up HAL.
Speaking of stupid school admins & bad words – here is a school taht expelled a kid for cursing . . . on twitter at 2:30AM from his home computer
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120326/04334818242/high-school-student-expelled-tweeting-profanity-principal-admits-school-tracks-all-tweets.shtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/
Denis – Friggin A man I am offended by “a” – thats right out!
I’m praying (to FSM) that the good Justice is correct & this is one of those faux poutrage stories that get planted every week or two just to ensure the wingnuts maintain a full head of steam.
Absolutely absurd.
We’re going to miss you guys at CERN.
If this is true and the list in the post really represents a decision by the NYC schools, we are really in trouble. The source is The Daily Mail. Is this the London Daily Mail? Because the story is hard to accept it would be good to have more information on the source. Thanks.
What about adjectives ? Black and white can have strong emotional responses, as do fat or thin, so adjectives should be banned too.
And we should dispose of the verbs that produce the above nouns (enslave, enrich ..)
So why dont we just cut to the chase and say that the ONLY words allowed are definite and indefinite articles (a, an, the ..) ?