NEW YORK (PNN) - April 4, 2012 - The fascist, anti-free speech New York City Department of Education has decided against going forward with its plan to ban the use of 50 words on standardized school tests because they think the terms might be offensive to some people.
Among the words on the forbidden list were “birthdays”, “celebrities”, “cigarettes”, “crime”, “divorce”, “evolution”, “politics”, “sex”, and “religion”.
The recommendation was originally made last week, and New York Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said his department was simply giving guidance to the test developers.
Words suggesting wealth were also excluded because they could make children jealous.
“Poverty” was also on the forbidden list, and Sy Fliegal with the Center for Educational Innovation said that was ridiculous.
“The Petersons take a vacation for five days in their Mercedes… so what? You think our (children) are going to be offended because they don’t have a Mercedes? You think our (children) are going to say, ‘I’m offended; how could they ask me a question about a Mercedes? I don’t have a Mercedes!’?” said Fliegal.
After an uproar from parents over the proposed ban, the fascist DOE backed down, but the department released a statement saying it would “continue to advise companies to be sensitive to student backgrounds” and “avoid unnecessary distractions that could invalidate test scores.”
The words on the original forbidden list include:
- 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.