Judging from words banned from New York tests by the city’s Department of Education, students should avoid reading newspapers or watching television news because those sources often contain “sensitive” words such as birthdays, dinosaurs, poverty, dancing, terrorism and (especially in October) Halloween, notes Grumpy Editor.
Also scrubbed are references to “creatures from outer space,” divorces, diseases, celebrities, and homes with swimming pools and computers.
What’s next? Weather, because it might rain?
The nutty action was revealed this week by Yoav Gonen, New York Post education reporter, who called it “a bizarre case of political correctness.”
Reason for a list of 50 forbidden mentions is because “educrats,” as Gonen labels them, fear such topics “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.”
The unmentionables were disclosed in a request for proposals to companies competing in providing various tests designed to measure student progress.
Education Department officials say such exclusions are normal procedure, pointed out Gonen, adding that a spokeswoman, insisting the routine is not censorship, declared, “This is standard language that has been used by test publishers for many years and allows our students to complete practice exams without distraction.”
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