School Bans the Dictionary

[aduidarnenye]

I think the funniest part of the whole interview this morning was when the school board representative said she googled "oral sex" to "check out what the kids might potentially see".

I decided to sacrifice myself and my innocence in order to test this. A Google search of 'oral sex' turns up very tame results. I think I was disappointed.

[zoobernut]

I decided to sacrifice myself and my innocence in order to test this. A Google search of 'oral sex' turns up very tame results. I think I was disappointed.

Tame by BG standards or tame by 9/10 year old standards?

[isladar]

Why is that kid even looking up oral sex in the dictionary in the first place?

This. You have to know the word or phrase first before looking it up.

[aduidarnenye]

Tame by BG standards or tame by 9/10 year old standards?

No pictures, no graphic words (beyond "oral sex"), talk about communicable diseases, and news stories about this topic.

[Olo401]

Every day I see something new like this, and it fails to shock me anymore. I simply shake my head in shame and wonder what this country has become.

[Kyreth]

"after a parent complained"

Sounds like the parent needs to grow up, and get with the times. I knew what oral sex was before i was in grade 4/5, and that was 15+ years ago. Kids these days are already well aware of things like this from TV, video games, socializing at school, and the internet. If they are not, they are sure living a sheltered life.

Sadly, the only thing many parents seem to tell their kids about sex at any age is "No."

Remember, ignorance is healthy!

[Acturus]

This. You have to know the word or phrase first before looking it up.

Not if the kid is looking up a word that happened to be on the same page while dear mommy was looking over the kid's shoulder.

[Mojo]

It's good to see that they had some sort of reviewing process for this that actually worked. Retards like said parent are ruining the USA.

[ZarakiKujata]

It's good to see that they had some sort of reviewing process for this that actually worked. Retards like said parent are ruining the USA.

People who are intolerant of people ruining the USA are whats ruining the USA.



Also, the dutch.

[Acturus]

People who are intolerant of people ruining the USA are whats ruining the USA.



Also, the dutch.

Schmoke and a pancake?

[Yuri-G]

This whole thing is actually over. They did an interview with a representative of that school board this morning. She said they were following protocol, anytime any parent challenges material they pull it temporarily from the classrooms automatically and then review the material.

They reviewed the dictionary and they are now being returned to the classrooms.

So basically this whole thing was a fake-out by the media, and they were only following standard procedure, and the dictionary was in all likelihood never intended to be pulled for a large amount of time?

If that's accurate, it's a perfect example of the reason I'm not pursuing a career in journalism, even though I have a degree in it. A school pulling the dictionary because of one person's complaint will get readers; a school listening to a parent's complaint, reviewing the material, and deeming the claim to be unfounded will not. Which way do you think they're going to spin it?

[ZarakiKujata]

Schmoke and a pancake?

a what?

[willriker]

wow

1) you need to know he word to look it up. Your either looking for a definition or a proper spelling. If its a 4th-5th grade reader, they would probably need to look up every one of those words to understand what the definition even means.

2) lulz at this parent. My kid looked up a dirty word! >.> i use to look things like this up all the time at this kids age. One dictionary even had a picture of a penis, one in enutero, but still a penis. so what?

3) wonder whats going to happen when this kid hits high school. His/her poor mom will have a heart attack! Or is, somehow, this language now ok to put in a middle/high school/college dictionary.

4)

[Headspace]

Don't indoctrinate my kids Webster.

[zoobernut]

So basically this whole thing was a fake-out by the media, and they were only following standard procedure, and the dictionary was in all likelihood never intended to be pulled for a large amount of time?

If that's accurate, it's a perfect example of the reason I'm not pursuing a career in journalism, even though I have a degree in it. A school pulling the dictionary because of one person's complaint will get readers; a school listening to a parent's complaint, reviewing the material, and deeming the claim to be unfounded will not. Which way do you think they're going to spin it?

Well to be fair to the media they did pull all dictionaries from the classrooms of one school in the district where the complaint originated, however it was just a temporary pull until the material could be reviewed by an independent review committee consisting of parents and teachers.

They did over react in the sense that it wasn't permanent.

[AoE]

As a parent, I'd assume you'd be happy to have your kid come to you about something they don't understand instead of being horrified and trying to restrict your kid's knowledge.

I understand that there's somethings you don't want your kid to know due to social taboos but the dictionary's only purpose is to increase your knowledge and nothing else. It's like taking out 7th grade biology books because they show sexual organs and how they're supposed to work.

[Yuri-G]

Well to be fair to the media they did pull all dictionaries from the classrooms of one school in the district where the complaint originated, however it was just a temporary pull until the material could be reviewed by an independent review committee consisting of parents and teachers.

They did over react in the sense that it wasn't permanent.

Yeah, and the article completely glossed over the fact that it was most likely going to be temporary, which in turn needlessly sensationalizes the issue. Did they do that on purpose, or was it an honest mistake? No way to know. But I have my opinions lol

[Abandon]

better a dictionary than google.

[Ksandra]

So basically this whole thing was a fake-out by the media, and they were only following standard procedure, and the dictionary was in all likelihood never intended to be pulled for a large amount of time?

If that's accurate, it's a perfect example of the reason I'm not pursuing a career in journalism, even though I have a degree in it. A school pulling the dictionary because of one person's complaint will get readers; a school listening to a parent's complaint, reviewing the material, and deeming the claim to be unfounded will not. Which way do you think they're going to spin it?

Media overreacting for schools following procedures in attempts to show parents they listen? NEVAR!

More than likely the committee was deciding whether to keep the current dictionaries or switch to the elementary dictionaries (which I've seen all over the place, I don't think people here realize how most schools use them). They probably kept the old ones because they have no budget.

[Murdock]

a what?

smoke and a flapjack