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The New York City School Department has published a long list of words that should not be used in school tests, or someone could be offended.
The list was sent to private corporations that compete on selling their test services to schools in the area - tests that focus on English, Math, Biology and Societal subjects.
The list mentions 50 subjects and words.
Mentioning dinosaurs could lead to unnecessary discussion about evolution and creation, and mentioning Birthdays in tests might offend Jehova's Witnesses who don't celebrate them. Not to mention slavery and terrorism, or poverty and wealth.
The list is said to not encourage censorship, but to guide schools and standard test companies in modifying their tests accordingly and to not offend or hurt any specific group or individual.
The list of banned words and topics:
Abuse, Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking, Birthdays, Holidays, Bodily functions, Cancer (and other diseases), Catastrophes or Natural Disasters, Celebrity, Laptops, Crime, Death, Sickness, Divorce, Evolution or Creation, Expensive gifts, Gambling, Halloween, Homelessness, Homes with pools, Hunting, Fast Food, Sports, Unemployment, Nuclear weapons, The Occult, Parapsychology, Politics, Pornography, Poverty, Rap music, Religion, Rock music, Eloping, Sex, Slavery, Terrorism, Video games, Traumatic material, Vermin, Violence, War, Bloodshed, Weapons, Witchcraft.
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Okay, maybe this doesn't affect everyone, but what is the point behind all this? It makes no sense. I read a few things of Finnish parents with their children in the NY Public School system, and pretty much everyone said the different thing.
Some agreed, some said its bullshit, a lot said this is wrong, some said this is just a guideline that doesn't affect anything.
But what's really going on there, in a city of 1,1 Million students?
