http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/
QuoteWar On Words: NYC Dept. Of Education Wants 50 'Forbidden' Words Banned From Standardized Tests
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — George Carlin is rolling over in his grave.
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.
Julie Lewis' family celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa, but she told CBS 2′s Emily Smith she wants her children to appreciate and learn about other holidays and celebrations.
"They're going to meet people from all walks of life and they're going to have to learn to adjust," Lewis said.
Words that suggest wealth are excluded because they could make kids jealous. "Poverty" is also on the forbidden list. That's something Sy Fliegal with the Center for Educational Innovation calls ridiculous.
"The Petersons take a vacation for five days in their Mercedes ... so what? You think our kids are going to be offended because they don't have a Mercedes? You think our kids are going to say 'I'm offended; how could they ask me a question about a Mercedes? I don't have a Mercedes!'" Fliegal said.
In a throwback to "Footloose," the word "dancing" is also taboo. However, there is good news for kids that like "ballet": The city made an exception for this form of dance.
Also banned are references to "divorce" and "disease," because kids taking the tests may have relatives who split from spouses or are ill.
Some students think banning these words from periodic assessment tests is ridiculous.
"If you don't celebrate one thing you might have a friend that does it. So I don't see why people would find it offensive," Curtis High School Sophomore Jamella Lewis told Diamond.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the DOE is simply giving guidance to the test developers.
"So we're not an outlier in being politically correct. This is just making sure that test makers are sensitive in the development of their tests," Walcott said Monday.
To which Fliegal responded: "It's all of life! I don't know how they figure out what not to put on the list. Every aspect of life is on the list."
There are banned words currently in school districts nationwide. Walcott said New York City's list is longer because its student body is so diverse.
Here is the complete list of words that could be banned:
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.
America sucks.
Edit: Nuclear weapons?? WTF
Also, the article is pretty shoddy. Looking closer it looks like topics are planned to be banned (e.g. evolution), not "words" (dinosaurs).
What do schools have against pornography? :rolleyes:
"Homes with swimming pools" :lol:
Quote from: HVC on March 28, 2012, 02:35:41 PM
"Homes with swimming pools" :lol:
Awesome. Wonder if that even applies to above the ground pools.
There are some things on the list that make sense to exclude from tests, but those are the ones I couldn't imagine being used in the first place. So I guess I would say the whole ban is stupid and unnecessary.
Quote from: derspiess on March 28, 2012, 03:04:30 PM
Quote from: HVC on March 28, 2012, 02:35:41 PM
"Homes with swimming pools" :lol:
Awesome. Wonder if that even applies to above the ground pools.
No, because that's just trashy, and therefore rather accessible by the mouthbreathers.
Quote from: derspiess on March 28, 2012, 03:04:30 PM
Quote from: HVC on March 28, 2012, 02:35:41 PM
"Homes with swimming pools" :lol:
Awesome. Wonder if that even applies to above the ground pools.
There are some things on the list that make sense to exclude from tests, but those are the ones I couldn't imagine being used in the first place. So I guess I would say the whole ban is stupid and unnecessary.
families should be off too. won't anyone think of the poor orphans?
Isn't this to avoid questions like this on the tests?
"There are five niggers living at Jimmy's house. The KKK shows up and lynches two of the niggers. How many niggers are left living at Jimmy's house."
(acceptible answers include "too many" and "none, niggers be runnin'")
Quote from: Viking on March 28, 2012, 03:19:39 PM
Isn't this to avoid questions like this on the tests?
"There are five niggers living at Jimmy's house. The KKK shows up and lynches two of the niggers. How many niggers are left living at Jimmy's house."
(acceptible answers include "too many" and "none, niggers be runnin'")
No.
Double plus good.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 28, 2012, 03:33:23 PM
Quote from: Viking on March 28, 2012, 03:19:39 PM
Isn't this to avoid questions like this on the tests?
"There are five niggers living at Jimmy's house. The KKK shows up and lynches two of the niggers. How many niggers are left living at Jimmy's house."
(acceptible answers include "too many" and "none, niggers be runnin'")
No.
I checked the list, you are right. Apparently "ect." needs banning but "nigger" "KKK" and "lynching" do not.
Quote from: Viking on March 28, 2012, 04:47:07 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 28, 2012, 03:33:23 PM
Quote from: Viking on March 28, 2012, 03:19:39 PM
Isn't this to avoid questions like this on the tests?
"There are five niggers living at Jimmy's house. The KKK shows up and lynches two of the niggers. How many niggers are left living at Jimmy's house."
(acceptible answers include "too many" and "none, niggers be runnin'")
No.
I checked the list, you are right. Apparently "ect." needs banning but "nigger" "KKK" and "lynching" do not.
Speaking of needing banning...
I would agree those latter three don't need banning, as they at least imply something. "Ect." is just another, stupid Vikingism, similar to "acceptible."
Board up the department and then burn it to the ground and salt the earth, it's the only way to be sure.
What a sick joke this article is, to be banning all those things. It's actually scary that we've come to things like this. What ever happened to us to actually ban this stuff, and for many of the reasons given? Are we really that afraid of our own shadows, or actually treating our kids like their so fragile of reality?
Dinosaurs? Nuclear weapons? Pornography?
No, you know what, fuck it. I want the next generation of Americans to be even dumber than mine. Then we too can reign in Hell, just like a Boomer.
:huh: People who don't believe in evolution shouldn't be going to college at all.
QuoteA dinosaur runs away from a house with a swimming pool at 15mph in order to escape a tsunami. Meanwhile, a Parapsychologist leaves from his mansion with a personal computer at 20mph heading towards the tsunami because of a fortune teller's ominous prediction. If a nuclear heat-seeking missile, flying at 25mph, is deployed from the location of the tsunami at the same time as the dinosaur and flies back and forth between the dinosaur and the Parapsychologist until they collide, how far will the nuclear heat-seeking missile have traveled?
one of the reactions on that idiocy. :D
Nuclear heat seeking missile? Is that like an RPG round with a proximity fuse?
Quote from: Ideologue on March 28, 2012, 09:44:42 PM
Dinosaurs? Nuclear weapons? Pornography?
No, you know what, fuck it. I want the next generation of Americans to be even dumber than mine. Then we too can reign in Hell, just like a Boomer.
I think it's a good idea to prevent kids from reading nuclear dino porn. What do ya want, a whole generation of Timmays? :P
Quote from: DGuller on March 29, 2012, 07:28:02 AM
Nuclear heat seeking missile? Is that like an RPG round with a proximity fuse?
No you didnt...... :mad: :lol:
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on March 29, 2012, 12:05:06 AM
:huh: People who don't believe in evolution shouldn't be going to college at all.
Yeah. Don't want to give them a chance to change their minds, right?
Quote from: derspiess on March 29, 2012, 10:00:30 AM
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on March 29, 2012, 12:05:06 AM
:huh: People who don't believe in evolution shouldn't be going to college at all.
Yeah. Don't want to give them a chance to change their minds, right?
Don't be a snob.
Quote from: derspiess on March 29, 2012, 10:00:30 AM
Yeah. Don't want to give them a chance to change their minds, right?
Do very many people go through college-level science classes and come out beliving in magic?
It seems unlikely to me that someone so willfully ignorant as to deny evolution would benefit from a college education.
The invincible ignorance of the Languishites in this thread amuses me enormously (especially when you consider that Timmay is siding with them and they don't seem to mind).
No one has a clue as to why this is important in standardized-test-taking, but that doesn't stop many people from pronouncing on how 'stupid" it is.
Frankly, this is as non-story as a non-story can be. That test designers should want to avoid using possibly-distracting language in their questions is neither news nor silly/absurd/incompetent/etc. That school districts want to advise test designers on any words that they think could possibly prove distracting to their kids is perfectly normal, and should be applauded (and is by those not ignorant on the topic).
Don't that stop you all from frothing and getting your panties in a twist, though. It is enormously fun to watch. And no one has lost much cred by ranting about shit they don't understand; they lost all that they had, but they didn't lose much.
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on March 29, 2012, 11:25:48 AM
It seems unlikely to me that someone so willfully ignorant as to deny evolution would benefit from a college education.
I think there are quite a few people who learn to think for themselves in college who hadn't leaned to do so previously. That is, of course, less than ideal but preferable to them not learning it at all.
They should be attempting to deliberately distract them as a test of their concentration. There should be pictures of boobies on every page too.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on March 29, 2012, 11:36:36 AM
They should be attempting to deliberately distract them as a test of their concentration. There should be pictures of boobies on every page too.
Bubble Test has a whole new meaning.
Who cares about the vocabulary on a standardized test? Why do you need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex on those? Are they standardized tests that involve those topics (say sociology, biology, physical education) or are they for subjects like English and math?
Quote from: Jacob on March 29, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
or are they for subjects like English and math?
I was wondering the same thing.
It would be odd to have a social studies or history test without at least some of those words.
Quote from: Malthus on March 29, 2012, 08:56:51 AM
Quote from: Ideologue on March 28, 2012, 09:44:42 PM
Dinosaurs? Nuclear weapons? Pornography?
No, you know what, fuck it. I want the next generation of Americans to be even dumber than mine. Then we too can reign in Hell, just like a Boomer.
I think it's a good idea to prevent kids from reading nuclear dino porn. What do ya want, a whole generation of Timmays? :P
Or Oglekvindes?
grumbler is a teacher, and therefore stupid.
Quote from: Jacob on March 29, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
Who cares about the vocabulary on a standardized test? Why do you need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex on those? Are they standardized tests that involve those topics (say sociology, biology, physical education) or are they for subjects like English and math?
There is no need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex as part of a standardized test, but there is excellent reason to avoid evoking emotions associated with those topics among some students.
There is no loss here whatever. It is pure win-win. That's what makes criticism of it so amusing.
Quote from: grumbler on March 29, 2012, 01:56:02 PM
Quote from: Jacob on March 29, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
Who cares about the vocabulary on a standardized test? Why do you need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex on those? Are they standardized tests that involve those topics (say sociology, biology, physical education) or are they for subjects like English and math?
There is no need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex as part of a standardized test, but there is excellent reason to avoid evoking emotions associated with those topics among some students.
There is no loss here whatever. It is pure win-win. That's what makes criticism of it so amusing.
How else are we to go about the valuable task of ensuring that Creationists, poor people and prudes score more poorly on standardized tests, than to freak them out by using their hot-button words? :D
Quote from: Malthus on March 29, 2012, 02:02:41 PM
How else are we to go about the valuable task of ensuring that Creationists, poor people and prudes score more poorly on standardized tests, than to freak them out by using their hot-button words? :D
Standardized tests occur way too early in the process. You want the weirdos to score well on them, so they get their hopes up, before crushing their dreams in the interview.
Quote from: grumbler on March 29, 2012, 01:56:02 PM
There is no need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex as part of a standardized test, but there is excellent reason to avoid evoking emotions associated with those topics among some students.
There is no loss here whatever. It is pure win-win. That's what makes criticism of it so amusing.
Do you know what subjects are being tested or are you just being Grumbler?
not sure if the meme is still going but it seems appropriate:
Grumbler was there when it were the dinosaurs taking the tests.
they failed.
;)
Quote from: grumbler on March 29, 2012, 01:56:02 PM
Quote from: Jacob on March 29, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
Who cares about the vocabulary on a standardized test? Why do you need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex on those? Are they standardized tests that involve those topics (say sociology, biology, physical education) or are they for subjects like English and math?
There is no need to talk about dinosaurs, poverty or sex as part of a standardized test, but there is excellent reason to avoid evoking emotions associated with those topics among some students.
There is no loss here whatever. It is pure win-win. That's what makes criticism of it so amusing.
Interesting point.
QuoteFearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests.
I'm looking at the reasons they give, if that article is accurate. Not a logical or testing rationale is what they give, mostly what they talk about is emotional, making sure that students won't be offended or harmed by words and topics that really are normal items. Really? We need to be so sensitive?
Quote from: KRonn on March 29, 2012, 02:36:47 PM
QuoteFearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests.
I'm looking at the reasons they give, if that article is accurate. Not a logical or testing rationale is what they give, mostly what they talk about is emotional, making sure that students won't be offended or harmed by words and topics that really are normal items. Really? We need to be so sensitive?
I dont know Kronn, the word politics can be pretty damn traumatic.
Quote from: KRonn on March 29, 2012, 02:36:47 PM
I'm looking at the reasons they give, if that article is accurate. Not a logical or testing rationale is what they give, mostly what they talk about is emotional, making sure that students won't be offended or harmed by words and topics that really are normal items. Really? We need to be so sensitive?
Why not be sensitive? It costs nothing, and may make a difference to some students taking the test.
Like I said, this is a non-story. The creators of these tests do this stuff all the time. You don't want to evoke emotional responses when kids are already under a lot of pressure and the objective is to test their logical skills.
Is making the test easier and the testing environment more sterile a good or a bad thing? The real world these students are supposedly being prepared for respects no such sensibilities.
I like the idea of evoking emotional responses.
Have them take a bubble test while crawling through the mud under the barbed wire with live rounds fired overhead, for instance. That way we know they won't crack when in the hand to hand combat that is university life.
Quote from: grumbler on March 29, 2012, 05:04:22 PM
Quote from: KRonn on March 29, 2012, 02:36:47 PM
I'm looking at the reasons they give, if that article is accurate. Not a logical or testing rationale is what they give, mostly what they talk about is emotional, making sure that students won't be offended or harmed by words and topics that really are normal items. Really? We need to be so sensitive?
Why not be sensitive? It costs nothing, and may make a difference to some students taking the test.
That is a good question. Why aren't you sensitive to posters here?
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on March 29, 2012, 05:23:14 PM
Is making the test easier and the testing environment more sterile a good or a bad thing?
It isn't making testing any easier, nor the testing environment any more sterile, so it is a moot point whether such things are good or bad.
QuoteThe real world these students are supposedly being prepared for respects no such sensibilities.
The tests are not measuring ability to live in the real world, so the observation is moot.
But please keep up the strawman arguments. They are amusing, if absurd.
Quote from: PDH on March 29, 2012, 05:23:28 PM
I like the idea of evoking emotional responses.
Have them take a bubble test while crawling through the mud under the barbed wire with live rounds fired overhead, for instance. That way we know they won't crack when in the hand to hand combat that is university life.
Certainly the universities can install this kind of test (you are thinking here of things like SAT or ACT). These are tests like the Regents' Exams and have nothing to do with college admission.