50 Bad Words
A few days ago I read where the New York city school board banned some 50 words from school tests. I found that list this AM.
In difference to our readers with sensitive eyes I've posted the list in the comments so, you've been warned oh, ye, of sensitive eyes.
As you can see, the list is, actually, longer than 50 as some of the "words" are, in themselves, lists.
I'd ask all commenters (ya, I know, it's not a word) to refrain from using any of the words or phrases listed below in their comments least any who wander here inadvertently will not be overly offended.
Thank you,
Expat47
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.
In difference to our readers with sensitive eyes I've posted the list in the comments so, you've been warned oh, ye, of sensitive eyes.
As you can see, the list is, actually, longer than 50 as some of the "words" are, in themselves, lists.
I'd ask all commenters (ya, I know, it's not a word) to refrain from using any of the words or phrases listed below in their comments least any who wander here inadvertently will not be overly offended.
Thank you,
Expat47
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.
Comments
Are you freakin' serious !?!?! You can't fix stupid.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/30/12 at 09:44 AM
"Are you freakin' serious !?!?! You can't fix stupid."
That's the problem patty, they are trying to fix stupid. But the only (legal) way to fix stupid is with stupid. I would bet each and everyone of these words and lists has some incident behind it that outraged somebody, and most likely a lot of somebodies. And most of those will have been "upright and responsible" members of society with "good judgement" and a sense of "great faith" who are acting in the "interests of the children" to protect them from "bad influences and corruption". In other words the whole thing can likely be traced to the self righteous.
That's the problem patty, they are trying to fix stupid. But the only (legal) way to fix stupid is with stupid. I would bet each and everyone of these words and lists has some incident behind it that outraged somebody, and most likely a lot of somebodies. And most of those will have been "upright and responsible" members of society with "good judgement" and a sense of "great faith" who are acting in the "interests of the children" to protect them from "bad influences and corruption". In other words the whole thing can likely be traced to the self righteous.
Posted by Baughbe on 03/30/12 at 10:01 AM
You missed Dinosaur it's on the list too.
I like how they ban "Evolution" but not "Creation". Someone will complain about this.
They should just ban speaking altogether and have the the kids sit mute in the class. Of course mute is probably banned too.
I like how they ban "Evolution" but not "Creation". Someone will complain about this.
They should just ban speaking altogether and have the the kids sit mute in the class. Of course mute is probably banned too.
Posted by Billy on 03/30/12 at 10:03 AM
@Billy: I noticed that Dino was being dissed in the original stories so maybe it was extrapolated from the "Evolution" list.
@Baughbe: This list goes so far beyond "stupid" and into the realm of criminal as far as I'm concerned. This is worse than when the Hannibal, Mo. school district tried to outlaw Tom Sawyer.
@Baughbe: This list goes so far beyond "stupid" and into the realm of criminal as far as I'm concerned. This is worse than when the Hannibal, Mo. school district tried to outlaw Tom Sawyer.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/30/12 at 10:58 AM
@Billy, Creation would fall under Religion, which is on the list.
Now two questions that came to my mind when I read the list; how are animal shelters traumatic, and who still calls the genre "Rock and roll"? I assumed it was just Rock now, and rock & roll was the music of Elvis and the Beatles.
Now two questions that came to my mind when I read the list; how are animal shelters traumatic, and who still calls the genre "Rock and roll"? I assumed it was just Rock now, and rock & roll was the music of Elvis and the Beatles.
Posted by McHale on 03/31/12 at 01:20 AM
Can you source this please? I'd love to distribute it widely but it doesn't show an author, a header, a title, an office, a contact, a date or anything else to authenticate it. Thank you.
Posted by Nicholas on 03/31/12 at 01:00 PM
There's been lots of foofaraw about not very much.... Those words are not banned from school. They are merely not used in tests. That's just the latest list; it's been going on for many years. The media didn't happen to latch onto it and try to make a story out of it till now. (Is there a shortage of real news? No, there's a shortage of nonsense to distract people from the real news.)
The idea is if you're taking a test you don't need to be distracted with extraneous issues. For example, imagine a math problem like:
Your father drinks two 40s of beer. Then he rapes your sister. Then he drinks three more 40s of beer. Then he rapes you. Then he drinks one more 40. Then he rapes the dog. How many 40s of beer did he drink? How many people and dogs did he rape?
If you happen to have an alcoholic rapist father, reading that story problem could upset you so much it could make it difficult for you to do arithmetic.
Likewise, if your father is a creationist whacko who won't let you celebrate birthdays, a story problem that mentions evolution or birthdays could distract you -- not as much, probably, but tests are supposed to be about students' abilities at math, English, etc. The idea is to let the students concentrate on the test.
They can talk about alcoholism, rape, abused animals rescued by the local animal shelter, etc. in class, but they don't need upsetting subjects intruding into math and English tests.
-Cougar :{)
The idea is if you're taking a test you don't need to be distracted with extraneous issues. For example, imagine a math problem like:
Your father drinks two 40s of beer. Then he rapes your sister. Then he drinks three more 40s of beer. Then he rapes you. Then he drinks one more 40. Then he rapes the dog. How many 40s of beer did he drink? How many people and dogs did he rape?
If you happen to have an alcoholic rapist father, reading that story problem could upset you so much it could make it difficult for you to do arithmetic.
Likewise, if your father is a creationist whacko who won't let you celebrate birthdays, a story problem that mentions evolution or birthdays could distract you -- not as much, probably, but tests are supposed to be about students' abilities at math, English, etc. The idea is to let the students concentrate on the test.
They can talk about alcoholism, rape, abused animals rescued by the local animal shelter, etc. in class, but they don't need upsetting subjects intruding into math and English tests.
-Cougar :{)
Posted by Cougar Allen on 03/31/12 at 01:09 PM
@Nick: Google "50 Forbidden Words" and you'll be overwhelmed.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/31/12 at 01:10 PM
I hate to admit I always Abused Alcohol on my Birthday celebrations, to the point where my Bodily functions went haywire - my bowels acted as if they had Cancer or some other Catastrophe! (Oops - My grandma just called to read me something out of the Enquirer about Celebrities' Children who smoke Cigarettes while on their Computers in the home - she thinks that should be a Crime punishable by Death! She said it's no wonder so many famous people get Divorced; the Evolution of their marriage depends on Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes. Marrying a movie star is such a Gamble!) By the way, did I mention that last Halloween I was Homeless - I used to have a Home with swimming pool, but one night I went Hunting for Junk food, and ended up having an In-depth discussion of sports with someone who ran a fantasy basketball team, and I bet too much money on the Portland Trailblazers - it ended up with a Loss of employment on my part, which was a Nuclear weapon to my checkbook and my way of life. I was desperate so I dabbled in the Occult and saw someone who specialized in Parapsychology. Little did I know she also dabbled in Politics - she had photo-shopped posters on her walls of Dick Cheney which verged on Pornography! But, I couldn't climb out of Poverty because I got hooked on Rap Music. I did finally find Religion, especially on Religious holidays, so I gave up that evil Rock-and-Roll music, and decided to start Running away from Sex Slavery, which is a form of Terrorism against humanity. I hate it when it's glorified on Television and video games, because it's most definitely Traumatic material. The Vermin who promote such Violence deserve a War against them with any Weapons we can use - even if we have to resort to Witchcraft and sorcery!
Posted by Robert on 03/31/12 at 02:29 PM
Well played, Robert!
Posted by Paul on 03/31/12 at 03:58 PM
Excellent!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/31/12 at 09:24 PM
@Robert just brilliant, i gleemed as i read the whole thing, bright and wit you are !!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Asashii on 04/05/12 at 02:50 PM
I don't understand why they banned words that does not mean any offense. I mean poverty is not a bad word. How would you explain to your students anyways without these words, when it is mostly used.
Posted by rat control on 08/14/12 at 12:30 PM
You're not supposed to explain things like poverty as that is a negative concept that would only confuse them.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/14/12 at 12:58 PM
@expat47 True He is making it more complicated. :D
Posted by rat bait station on 11/23/12 at 05:32 PM
I think this is not even the point, where is the freedom of speech!
well too bad!
well too bad!
Posted by Jorge on 10/03/13 at 04:06 PM
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