Schools banning words now.

[MyReality]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/2 ... nt-1142542

Short preview:

"Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religion. Halloween. Christmas. Television. These are a few of the 50-plus words and references the New York City Department of Education is hoping to ban from the city’s standardized tests.

The banned word list was made public – and attracted considerable criticism – when the city’s education department recently released this year’s "request for proposal" The request for proposal is sent to test publishers around the country trying to get the job of revamping math and English tests for the City of New York.

The Department of Education's says that avoiding sensitive words on tests is nothing new, and that New York City is not the only locale to do so. California avoids the use of the word "weed" on tests and Florida avoids the phrases that use "Hurricane" or "Wildfires," according to a statement by the New York City Department of Education.

In its request for proposal, the NYC Department of Education explained it wanted to avoid certain words if the "the topic is controversial among the adult population and might not be acceptable in a state-mandated testing situation; the topic has been overused in standardized tests or textbooks and is thus overly familiar and/or boring to students; the topic appears biased against (or toward) some group of people.""

I am outraged with this, in my opinion banning the use of words is the same as banning books. It is reprehensible to think that America's education system is censoring words, this overly sensitive system is going to generate an generation of meek adults who will find that no one will be there to hold their hands when situations arise that they were sheltered from before.

What can be done in ones state to stop this encroaching threat to ones own educational boards?

Do any of you agree with this educational method? If so, why?

I have tons of questions, i will instead ask them as they arise through conversation. Lets start with these two.

[MyReality]

Did anyone notice that they are looking to avoid use of those words on standardized tests? The point it would seem is to not screw up the mind set of the student taking a test by making him think of irrelevant things, like his parents divorce or dinosaurs fighting. It might be overkill but it is not the high-handed censorshsip the OP makes it out to be.

Ever hear the term slippery slope?

So let's let people talk out loud during tests because otherwise all speech will be banned.

Ever hear of the middle ground?

Talking during a test and omitting words from a test are two completely separate things. It's not even a related analogy. Omitting words because of a few people are overly sensitive to them is wrong. In addition, it was clearly political and not really in the best interest of the people, as it has now been scrapped after the outcry. We are trying to prepare children for the real world, nothing will be omitted for their convenience and will only prove to be a hindrance in the long run.

And omitting the word 'divorce' from a test will of course leave students absolutely defenseless in the real world.

Omitting certain words from tests was intended to serve the same purpose as not allowing talking during a test - to keep the student from being distracted from the test itself by irrelevancies. It is an exact analogy.

And exactly why was the proposal withdrawn? Because of an outcry from people who had essentially no idea of what it was all about. And please explain in detail how the proposal was politically motivated but the opposition to it was not.

The idea of omitting these words was brought forth by the department of education to appease the sensitivities of the religious, Jews,Muslims,Christians, etc... This is what we call political correctness. The reason the opposition was not politically motivated was because it was a multitude of angry parents that changed the mind of the Department of Education. Not a speaker, representative, not a politician with an agenda, not some group to gain attention, but PARENTS.

Talking is not even close to an analogy, they are not omitting information from the speaker, by talking you are directly taking other kids eyes away from the tests and or distracting their attention from the questions at hand. That is something an individual is imposing on others. By omitting words the state government is imposing what they deem offensive to an entire generation, because the kids may experience uneasy feelings during the testing process. If these words are to be used in questions for the tests than it is not an irrelevant word, but a relevant word when trying to determine the meaning of the question.


This is government censorship working its ways into schools, i call it a slippery slope because it could very easily work its way into text books, like they wanted to do in Texas a few years back. For example the slave trade would thus be known as the triangle trade, and slaves would thus be changed to servants.

On the list of omitted words.

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.

[Choir Loft]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/2 ... nt-1142542

Short preview:

"Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religion. Halloween. Christmas. Television. These are a few of the 50-plus words and references the New York City Department of Education is hoping to ban from the city’s standardized tests.

The banned word list was made public – and attracted considerable criticism – when the city’s education department recently released this year’s "request for proposal" The request for proposal is sent to test publishers around the country trying to get the job of revamping math and English tests for the City of New York.

The Department of Education's says that avoiding sensitive words on tests is nothing new, and that New York City is not the only locale to do so. California avoids the use of the word "weed" on tests and Florida avoids the phrases that use "Hurricane" or "Wildfires," according to a statement by the New York City Department of Education.

In its request for proposal, the NYC Department of Education explained it wanted to avoid certain words if the "the topic is controversial among the adult population and might not be acceptable in a state-mandated testing situation; the topic has been overused in standardized tests or textbooks and is thus overly familiar and/or boring to students; the topic appears biased against (or toward) some group of people.""

I am outraged with this, in my opinion banning the use of words is the same as banning books. It is reprehensible to think that America's education system is censoring words, this overly sensitive system is going to generate an generation of meek adults who will find that no one will be there to hold their hands when situations arise that they were sheltered from before.

What can be done in ones state to stop this encroaching threat to ones own educational boards?

Do any of you agree with this educational method? If so, why?

I have tons of questions, i will instead ask them as they arise through conversation. Lets start with these two.

It gets worse, I'm afraid...

A recent news story from Indiana told of a student who was expelled for swearing on Twitter during off-school hours (I think it was 2:30am). Now I don't condone swearing at any time, but is this really the business of the school board?
First, this matter requires surveillance, which is a violation of privacy.
Second it violates right to speech and not just any speech, but private conversation. Well, semi-private anyway.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology- ... 32581.html

In a related story (sorry I can't find the link) from Texas, high school students were given tickets for various infractions. Infractions included swearing as above, but also included not tucking in a shirt, tardiness and in the extreme, truancy. Tickets result in fines and if fines are not paid, arrest. The story tells of high school students who are forced to mingle with prisoners who have committed much more heinous offenses than a fashion fopa.

I'm sure the reader can provide similar stories. We've all heard them. They're symptomatic of a far greater problem. I suppose we all suspect that too. Francis Schaeffer, in his book "The Great Evangelical Disaster" predicted this sort of thing and reasoned its cause as early as 1983. He claimed it would be the church's fault.

"evangelical accommodation to the world of our age represents the removal of the last barrier against the breakdown of our culture. And with the final removal of this barrier will come social chaos and the rise of authoritarianism in some form to restore social order. Whether we see this as the judgment of God (which surely it is) or the inevitable results of social chaos makes little difference."

In July of 1954 A.A. Allen experienced a visionary revelation, a prophecy if you will, of the death of liberty in North America. Twelve years later Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke a similar judgment.

"Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as His divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, 'You are too arrogant. If you don't change your ways I will rise up and break the back bone of your power.'"

Did America change her ways? Not a little and not at all. Because of our arrogance we are made to drink from the cup of foolishness and because we do not trust God we are made to drink continually from the bloody cup of war.

"The American people have no idea what is happening to them."
- Pravda

America has rejected God and in return He has rejected America. Divine judgment is upon us NOW. Today we are a fascist police state and tomorrow we will see increasing restriction and authoritarianism.

BUT, If any man or woman repents as individuals and come humbly to Christ, they will find forgiveness for themselves and peace with God.

Submitted for your consideration as I holler from the choir loft...