Life sure is getting silly....

[OntarioVanMan]

U.S. school bans the dictionary
January 26, 2010
Cathal Kelly

A Southern California school board has pulled the Merriam-Webster dictionary off its shelves after a parent complained about the entry “oral sex.”

The collegiate-level dictionary was being used in grade four and five classrooms. The school now promises to begin a thorough scouring of the dictionary for other offensive entries.

“It’s hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we’ll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature,” Menifee Union School District spokesperson Betti Cadmus told the local The Press-Enterprise newspaper.

Merriam-Webster defines oral sex as “oral stimulation of the genitals.”

The dictionaries were originally intended for use by children working at advanced reading levels. Now the California town, pop. 70,000, looks like the staging ground for a First Amendment battle.

“If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries,” said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, told The Press-Enterprise. “I think common sense seems to be lacking in this school.”

The decision has divided parents. While some supported the idea of an “age appropriate” reference book, others saw the decision in terms of free speech.

“Censorship in the schools, really?” Emanuel Chavez, the parent of second- and sixth-grade students, said to the Press Enterprise. “Pretty soon the only dictionary in the school library will be the Bert and Ernie dictionary.”

 

[layoutshooter]

Hitler is smiling today. Banning books. Wonderful. Before any of you "lefties" in here jump up and down and say this is a "right wing" banning, just wait, Obama and Co. will be participating in book banning too. I mean, after all, they have been re-writing history for years to make themselves look good.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Hitler is smiling today. Banning books. Wonderful. Before any of you "lefties" in here jump up and down and say this is a "right wing" banning, just wait, Obama and Co. will be participating in book banning too. I mean, after all, they have been re-writing history for years to make themselves look good.

I remember in school trying to look up naughty words out of simple curiousity...it is a natural thing...gee whiz..

 

[layoutshooter]

Yeah, an now we medicate our kids for acting like kids when they fidget in school. If you don't conform these days you are in trouble. That goes double for young boys. Don't even try to act like a real boy should, throwing rocks, boyhood scuffles, shooting spit balls. Man, we expect them to act like little girls and then wonder where all the real men have gone.

 

[witness23]

Before any of you "lefties" in here jump up and down and say this is a "right wing" banning

I am curious, who in here(by name) are you referring to as "lefties" and who(by name) do you think in this forum would find something like this story as a good idea? Seriously.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Yeah, an now we medicate our kids for acting like kids when they fidget in school. If you don't conform these days you are in trouble. That goes double for young boys. Don't even try to act like a real boy should, throwing rocks, boyhood scuffles, shooting spit balls. Man, we expect them to act like little girls and then wonder where all the real men have gone.

Thats life Joe....like wolves we males sort out the pecking order...from submissive to alpha male...to separate leaders from followers...it is a nature human trait...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I am curious, who in here(by name) are you referring to as "lefties" and who(by name) do you think in this forum would find something like this story as a good idea? Seriously.

I think there are as many lefts as rights think this way...
the whole issue is just plain silly...

 

[layoutshooter]

I am curious, who in here(by name) are you referring to as "lefties" and who(by name) do you think in this forum would find something like this story as a good idea? Seriously.

No, there is nothing good about this story, Book banning or re-writing history, no matter who does it is wrong. I can see not allowing porn in schools assuming that we can come up with a definition.

What I meant by "lefties", being a bit naughty when I wrote that, are those who would say that because it was about a "bad thing" like a dirty word, it was a right wing kook that brought about this banning.

In my book, anyone that bans books is a nut, and has no business living in a free country.

 

[witness23]

No, there is nothing good about this story, Book banning or re-writing history, no matter who does it is wrong. I can see not allowing porn in schools assuming that we can come up with a definition.

What I meant by "lefties", being a bit naughty when I wrote that, are those who would say that because it was about a "bad thing" like a dirty word, it was a right wing kook that brought about this banning.

In my book, anyone that bans books is a nut, and has no business living in a free country.

You didn't answer my question, who in this forum (by name) would try to defend this decision?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Yeah LOS brought it up..but it is more of a generalization and I think naming names would not be condusive to a healthy enviroment....more of a case if the shoe fits...

 

[witness23]

LOS said, "before any of you "lefties" in here jump up and down". I'm just asking who he thinks in here would agree with this decision so that they may comment. I would say that his generalization would be incorrect IMO. I don't think it's out of bounds to ask him to back up his comments.

 

[layoutshooter]

You didn't answer my question, who in this forum (by name) would try to defend this decision?

You mis-read what I said. I never said anyone in here would defend that decision. What I said was some would point out that it was a "right wing" (incorrectly I might add) things this time. That is all I said.

I am not out to name people and play that silly stuff. We all know those who like to play that. Just observing.

 

[jaminjim]

I remember in school trying to look up naughty words out of simple curiousity...it is a natural thing...gee whiz..

I'll ask you to refrain from using that word on this site. Of all the nerve, talking about a bodily function on here!

 

[greg334]

I will defend the position that the school board took in this case.

I think it is great that they responded to a silly demand from a parent and showed that they are actually in control of the school system no matter how trivial and stupid the issue is.

It doesn't matter if the students in the school system get a bi-lingual p*ss poor education at such a level that when they graduate college they still have problems competing with Chinese who were smuggled into the country in a container and had no education - the school board responded to this parent's concern.

Remember Hitler was the same as our left, the right wing in europe has nothing to do with general politics but socalist politics.

 

[RLENT]

I will defend the position that the school board took in this case.

I too have no problem with the school board pulling a college-level book from 4th and 5th graders - it's merely a case of the elected representatives of some parents doing what they were elected to do: ensuring that the kids are being given age-appropriate materials, and being responsive to parents concerns.

I think it is great that they responded to a silly demand from a parent ......

Well, first off I don't know if there actually was a demand, but there certainly was a complaint ....

BTW, this isn't suppression of free speech, the tearing down of the First Ammendment, book-burning or anything even remotely similiar - there will be no bonfires of texts, and Merriam-Webster will still be allowed to publish the item.

 

[layoutshooter]

Only for the time being. Nothing new under the sun. This will expand if it is allowed to. I have no problem with a college level dictionary in a grade school. I was more than capable of working out of that book at that age. So are most kids if allowed to excel. Grade levels are just made up any way. My only regret is that I allowed myself to slip so far in my vocabulary.

I remember my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Kullman. He was a very wise man. His favorite punishment, which I often received and richly deserved, was writing dictionary pages from the Webster's college level dictionary. If the infraction was minor you got short pages or pages with a lot of pictures. If the infraction was worse you get multiple pages, full pages and pages with few or no pictures. I have little doubt that I wrote that entire book several times by the time I left 6th grade. It never hurt anything but my fingers. I learned.

 

[greg334]

BTW, this isn't suppression of free speech, the tearing down of the First Ammendment, book-burning or anything even remotely similiar - there will be no bonfires of texts, and Merriam-Webster will still be allowed to publish the item.

I agree it isn't and shouldn't be construed as an attack on the constitution BUT ...

What has been happening in the schools is somewhat along the lines of stifling free speech of one party while allowing others to get away with offending others. While many on the left and the ACLU has been quick to defend people who wear clothing that is in bad or offensive taste, there hasn't been equal protection to the people also have said or presented something that is equally offensive to smaller groups.

A book is not the problem, we have had censorship in the schools for years and years, MOST IMPORTANTLY it doesn't prevent a parent from teaching their kids or allowing them access to the right material to teach them, does it?

The real solution is to eliminate public schools altogether.

 

[layoutshooter]

NO public schools would be a great idea!! Let the parents form co-ops, hire their own teachers and then they have control over the child's education, not the Federal Government. That bunch has no business in education. Only the States can do that and that is not a good idea. All education should be controlled at the local level. Keep big government out of it. They only use it to push their agenda and dumb down the nation.

 

[RLENT]

Only for the time being. Nothing new under the sun. This will expand if it is allowed to.

What in the world are you talking about ?

... that a local school board - which is an elected body in many places - is being responsive to a parent, and is taking a closer look at what teachers and the educational establishment (which is not elected, and generally not all that accountable IMHO) are doing, and the does something with respect to selecting what educational materials are, or are not, appropriate ?

You really think that is a bad thing ?

I have no problem with a college level dictionary in a grade school.

Nor do I - however I wouldn't necessarily want my 4th grader reading about oral sex in college level book. The loss of innocence of a child comes plenty quick enough - without the state helping it along with non-age-appropriate reading materials.

I remember my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Kullman. He was a very wise man. His favorite punishment, which I often received and richly deserved, was writing dictionary pages from the Webster's college level dictionary.

Yeah, I'd say that he was ... that's a far better approach than:

"I promise I will not bring in muskrat paws or tails from the trapline, or dead rotting turtles from the trotline, and leave them lying around on Mrs Calhoun's desk." ..... 500 times on the blackboard.

.... to think: I actually could have enriched my mind .....

 

[RLENT]

What has been happening in the schools is somewhat along the lines of stifling free speech of one party while allowing others to get away with offending others. While many on the left and the ACLU has been quick to defend people who wear clothing that is in bad or offensive taste, there hasn't been equal protection to the people also have said or presented something that is equally offensive to smaller groups.

No argument here.

A book is not the problem, we have had censorship in the schools for years and years, MOST IMPORTANTLY it doesn't prevent a parent from teaching their kids or allowing them access to the right material to teach them, does it?

Exactly.

The real solution is to eliminate public schools altogether.

Sing it brother !