So perhaps my last post on the difference between delusional threats and actual threats to kids was a bit vague. One only has to look around to find concrete examples of delusional threats that have even whole school systems up in arms.
Take for example this chestnut. A school system has decided to ban the Meriam-Wesbster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Ed. from all of it's schools based on the complaint of one parent whose child came across the word "oral sex." Rather than teach the child what it is and let that be that, all the books have to be carried away to protect the kids from the unquestionable harm that can only result when a pair of eighth-grade eyes stumble onto words adults haven't deemed suitable for them to be gazing upon.
The cold, clinical--totally non-provocative definition went a little something like this: "oral stimulation of the genital." And that's not all, apparently, Assistant Superintendent Karen Valdes found a number of other words in the dictionary that are not "age appropriate." It seems, so-called "age appropriateness" has become a new reason to censor information.
Isn't it funny that the very same dictionary that houses such words as "rape" and "murder" is being banned because of a word like "oral sex?" Seriously, what does "age appropriate words" even mean? If you're going on sheer grotesqueness as the reason for the ban, you could probably come up with worse than "oral sex." But that's the fickle adult mind for you.
Update: common sense reigned in and the ban has been lifted.
Take for example this chestnut. A school system has decided to ban the Meriam-Wesbster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Ed. from all of it's schools based on the complaint of one parent whose child came across the word "oral sex." Rather than teach the child what it is and let that be that, all the books have to be carried away to protect the kids from the unquestionable harm that can only result when a pair of eighth-grade eyes stumble onto words adults haven't deemed suitable for them to be gazing upon.
The cold, clinical--totally non-provocative definition went a little something like this: "oral stimulation of the genital." And that's not all, apparently, Assistant Superintendent Karen Valdes found a number of other words in the dictionary that are not "age appropriate." It seems, so-called "age appropriateness" has become a new reason to censor information.
Isn't it funny that the very same dictionary that houses such words as "rape" and "murder" is being banned because of a word like "oral sex?" Seriously, what does "age appropriate words" even mean? If you're going on sheer grotesqueness as the reason for the ban, you could probably come up with worse than "oral sex." But that's the fickle adult mind for you.
Update: common sense reigned in and the ban has been lifted.
You say that a dictionary with words like “Rape” and “Murder” should also have words like “Oral Sex” and I agree. But words and terms can be sanitised by the powers that be too.
ReplyDelete“Friendly Fire” sounds positively... Well, friendly.
What it actually means is some strung out pilot identifying what he thinks are bad guys, but are actually allies and civilians. So he presses a button and blows them to bits. Military terms are full of nice terms to describe horrific deeds.
“Acceptable Losses.” is what a general means when a few thousand me are killed in some pointless battle. It may be acceptable to a general, but not to a few thousand wives and mothers.
The guy who found “Oral Sex” scary would not flinch at words like “War” “Torture” “Rape” “Murder.” “Suicide bomber” “Autopsy” “Genocide” and the like.
Why? because sees that stuff on his TV every night. It has become common place. family entertainment for his wide eyed innocents. Violence and its consequences are perfectly acceptable to him and his impressionable kids.
Sex on the other hand, is dirty, scary, dangerous... taboo. To change this puritanical guy’s illogical thought patterns you must change the way we’ve all been conditioned since childhood.
Just some examples...
War movies... Mass slaughter and destruction... are seen as ok.
Crime movies... Blood and guts... ok.
Sex movies... Perpetuating the species between the sheets... not ok, big time.
Go figure.
NiceDad