NYC educational board bans "Loaded words"

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**hotsauceman1**

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/28/new-york-city-schools-ban-loaded-words-from-tests/
Haha...Wait what?
Just so ya know. where i live its againts the rules to sing happy bitrhday (or have birthday parties) because it might offend those who dont celebrate birthdays.

Also where i live. Singing happy birthday is banned in class(as are bNew York (CNN) – 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."

Matthew Mittenthal, a spokesman for the NYC Department of Education, said this is the fifth year they have created such a list. He said such topics "could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students."

"Dinosaurs" evoking unpleasant emotions? The New York Post speculated that the "dinosaurs" could "call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists.”

But what the tabloid failed to realize is that those "fundamentalists" who oppose evolution on religious grounds, believe wholeheartedly in dinosaurs.

Young Earth creationists, or Biblical creationists as they prefer to be called, often point to dinosaurs in making their arguments. They say dinosaurs and humans roamed Earth together, citing legends of dragons and say the fossil record shows the earth is 6,000 years old, though few paleontologists and geologists share this theory.

At the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, the heart of the Young Earth Creationism movement, dinosaur models and exhibits fill the museum displays and gift shop.

Apparently many of the words on New York’s list were avoided because of faith-based concerns.

For instance, the use of the word "birthday" or the phrase "birthday celebrations" may offend Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not celebrate birthdays. A spokesperson for the Jehovah's Witnesses declined to comment on the use of the word "birthday."

The Department of Education would not go on the record to explain the specific reasons for each word, which has left many to speculate and draw their own conclusions.

Halloween may suggest paganism; divorce may conjure up uneasy feelings for children in the midst of a divorce within their family. One phrase that may surprise many, the term "Rock 'n' Roll" was on the "avoid" list.

And not good news for Italians: the Department of Education also advised avoiding references to types of food, such as pepperoni, products they said "persons of some religions or cultures may not indulge in."

The Department of Education said, "This is standard language that has been used by test publishers for many years and allows our students to complete practice exams without distraction."

Stanford University Professor Sam Wineburg is an expert in the field of education and director of the Stanford History Education Group.

When reached by phone said Wineburg, after a brief pause on the line, "the purpose of education is to create unpleasant experiences in us. ... The Latin meaning if education is 'to go out.' Education is not about making us feel warm and fuzzy inside."

Wineburg questioned the idea that the New York City Department of Education would want to "shield kids from these types of encounters." He said the goal of education is to "prepare them," adding "this is how we dumb down public schools."

**SagesStone**

So this is how stupid people make more stupid people.

**Ribon Fox**

Wait...what?
I thoght PC was bad in the UK, looks like the US has taken it to a whole new level

**Phototoxin**

Better not mention blood around JW either since they don't have transfusions.

Better not mention 'department' as that reminds me of 'department of justice' and cops offend me.

better not mention 'hello' as it comes from 'hallowed' (be god's name)

**Manchu**

I remember taking tests as more centrally unpleasant to education than any politicized word association game. Let's just stop having tests in schools. Tests are the most offensive thing imaginable to students.

**halonachos**

Oh New York, you silly liberals you.

**Dark**

1984's newspeak anyone?

**Cannerus_The_Unbearable**

When are people going to realize that being offensive causes no actual harm, only harm that people make up to begin with? Acting on it is a different story...

**Kanluwen**

They will be hearing from the Dinosaurs Equal Rights Protectors!

**Luco**

Florida avoids the phrases that use "Hurricane" or "Wildfires,

What? Since when? Avoiding reality a bit much? If you can't say hurricane how are you supposed to teach kids how to prepare for one? Are you going to call it a 'very big wind storm'? I'm prolly overreacting but wtf.

**Blackskullandy**

Kanluwen wrote:They will be hearing from the Dinosaurs Equal Rights Protectors!

D.E.R.P

**halonachos**

Philosoraptor must be ticked about this.

**LordofHats**

In breaking news, Philosoraptor had this to say:

**Da Boss**

God I hate my fellow educationalists sometimes.

**halonachos**

Da Boss wrote:God I hate my fellow educationalists sometimes.

Educationalists? I thought the word was "educators".

**Da Boss**

Nah, an educator is someone who actually does the job of teaching. Educationalists are concerned with education- so it includes politicians and administrators operating in the sphere of education, as well as school inspectors and so on. You won't find many teachers campaigning for banned word lists in my experience.

Apparently in the UK now you can't get the kids to sing "Baa baa black sheep have you any wool, yes sir yes sir three bags full" in school anymore. It's got to be "baa baa rainbow sheep". Which doesn't scan.

And while melanism is something that actually happens in animals, rainbowism is not.

**Kanluwen**

Reading the article a bit better, it looks like this isn't banning the words from being used in class--but it's a list they sent out to have companies which write up tests for them to avoid.

**Da Boss**

It's still really stupid.

**Kanluwen**

But it makes sense, you don't want to use stupidly common words like "birthday" on an English exam.

**SagesStone**

Which is where it is still likely to have a negative impact on education. Banning words like that from class itself sounds so absurd I doubt anyone would think there is any truth to it without some lengthy official speech given on TV.

Kanluwen wrote:But it makes sense, you don't want to use stupidly common words like "birthday" on an English exam.

But, words like hurricane... Birthday I can see having more use at the lower levels of education, like a spelling test or something.

**Da Boss**

Or "the". Or "and". Or "or".

Hell, full stops are too common. Let's just cut out all the words and have the paper communicated to the kids through interpretive dance.

(Kan, I'm not being caustic towards you particularly, but I am grumpy and hungry and it's been a long day)

**Kanluwen**

I figured you were just having another Bad Day and wasn't gonna say anything--but I appreciate the clarification.

Anyways--interpretative dance papers would be hilarious.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

n0t_u wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:But it makes sense, you don't want to use stupidly common words like "birthday" on an English exam.

But, words like hurricane... Birthday I can see having more use at the lower levels of education, like a spelling test or something.

The word "hurricane" was given as an example of a word that Florida's English exams avoid because of the common usage of the word.

Florida has a lot of hurricanes hitting them, so it's a word which is readily recognizable.

**generalgrog**

I'm offended by hurricane....why isn't called a "him"acane. = rights I tell ya.

GG

**helgrenze**

This is what happens when "Smart People" don't vote. "Dumb Sheeple" are encouraged to vote by their "leadership".
When "dumb people" vote for the same morons that tell them that the Flintstones is fact, then those same morons get to make dumb laws and rules.

**Kanluwen**

It's also what happens when people don't read the news article and realize that it's not banning classroom discussion, but rather "banning" them (by asking the companies producing the tests) from tests on the grounds that they are commonly recognizable words.

**Da Boss**

I don't see how you're getting that from it. The stated goal is to minimise controversy by omitting potentially upsetting terms.

**Kanluwen**

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.

and

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."

There's certainly potential they're just covering their butts on this, but the first thing that comes to mind when seeing the majority of these words isn't that they're "controversial" but "the topic has been overused in standardized tests or textbooks and is thus overly familiar and/or boring to students".

**SagesStone**

Kanluwen wrote:
n0t_u wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:But it makes sense, you don't want to use stupidly common words like "birthday" on an English exam.

But, words like hurricane... Birthday I can see having more use at the lower levels of education, like a spelling test or something.

The word "hurricane" was given as an example of a word that Florida's English exams avoid because of the common usage of the word.

Florida has a lot of hurricanes hitting them, so it's a word which is readily recognizable.

I meant for subjects like geography. At least here you get given a map for a test and have to predict the weather at a point from the information given on it. At least in a multiple choice situation the lack of the word limits the question base, given that wild fires is also on the list. I suppose they can try to compromise with words like cyclone or brush fires and of course if this is limited to English tests only I have no point.

Then I suppose there are the fossil questions. The point I'm trying to make is a list like this more or less adds unnecessary limits; which will only increase over time as the list is expanded.

**Da Boss**

Yes, I understood that part- I didn't think it was about banning words from the classroom (which is impossible to enforce really).

**Easy E**

Protip: Always treat a word as if it were loaded.