I kid you not



The New York City Department of Education is waging a war on words of sorts, and is seeking to have words they deem upsetting removed from standardized tests.

Fearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests.

The word “dinosaur” made the hit list because dinosaurs suggest evolution which creationists might not like, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported. “Halloween” is targeted because it suggests paganism; a “birthday” might not be happy to all because it isn’t celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/

The full list


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.

 

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when will they be handing out the gray uniforms and mandatory matching hair cuts?

 

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I agree with the stuff about sports requiring prior knowledge. That seems like a no brainer. Why should you be testing whether someone knows the rules of baseball? If your question requires the kid to be familiar with something you don't tell them about it's a bad question. The rest seems pretty stupid.

I hope you don't use red pens Poet!

 

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Glad to see our educational system continues to cater the self-esteem of their students instead of their ability.

Why bother with tests at all? Just give them a gold star and some cash for showing up. Oh, wait, they do that already.

http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-high-school-paying-kids-show-231029724.html

They have the wrong idea. Keep the words and explain them. There is nothing wrong with words. Words and free speech is what makes America great

 

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I will take this as validation of my position that NY teachers and their department of Education are Nanny State assclowns of the highest order.

 

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"Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)"

 

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Gonna be pretty tough to write the global history exam

 

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