Slashdot Mirror
NYC Bans Mention of Dinosaurs, Dancing, Birthdays On Student Tests
New submitter SchroedingersCat writes "New York educators banned references to 'dinosaurs,' 'birthdays,' 'Halloween' and dozens of other topics on city-issued tests. That is because they fear such topics 'could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.' Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays are not celebrated by Jehovah's Witnesses; and Halloween suggests paganism. Homes with swimming pools and home computers are also unmentionables — because of economic sensitivities. The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well — for unspecified reasons."
April 1st is a few days away still yet...
Stupid dancing birthday dinosaur. Also banned: fun, individuality, independant thought.
...puts T-Rex in a corner.
And there was a time when people would strive to find things that challenged them, if only to learn more about themselves.
I am John Hurt.
You know something is wrong when real life seems like a South Park episode.
It's not April 1st yet, you released this too early.
I now feel the need to write a single test question that involves every item on this list.
Shouldn't they just ban the tests, since tests make many students feel uncomfortable?
This is about the stupidest thing that I have read all day. These people need to grow up.
Why is it that most of the people that I encounter seem to have been shat from the Sphincter of Mediocrity?
Question: A man walks into his house and flips the switch to his 60-watt lightbulb for 8 hours. How many kWh does the lightbulb use?
Answer: None, because his electricity was disconnected several months ago due to the economic downturn.
... isn't for another three days!
"Test", because it evokes unpleasant emotions.
"New York", because it could be associated with stupidity.
"Student", because that could be mistaken for somebody that wants to learn and has an open mind.
Seriously, there is a limit. Modern human beings should have a reasonable level of tolerance for ideas that are not their own, and only reject them after they have looked at them carefully. (Yes, that includes actually looking at creationism and concluding for yourself that it is stupid.) They absolutely must have an open mind for all things scientific.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
You know? The one where the psychologist chick fills his head with hundreds of "sensitivity" politically correct directives, transforming him into a total dumbass?
Except in this case, its the city making schools look that way.
NYC needs to wake up and smell the sewerage, and accept that you can't please everyone and it is retarded to try.
I hope they get rid of those two. Because I just lost all my faith in humanity. “I Don't Want to Live on this Planet Anymore”
please excuse my apathy
Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays are not celebrated by Jehovah's Witnesses; and Halloween suggests paganism.
Once again, religious sensitivities prevail over having an eclectic set of experiences in the world around us. And mentioning swimming pools equates to classism? We're asking our kids to not acknowledge things in existence. What next? Closing down art museums because holy-hell, some features paintings with naked people? For real, can we get a grip already? Dinosaurs. They're worried about mentioning. Fucking. Dinosaurs.
You want to know how to help your kids? LEAVE THEM THE F*&K ALONE. --George Carlin
The small furry creature from Alpha Centauri is now feeling discriminated against!
Seriously, there's a lot wrong with tests - they generally measure your test-taking ability not your skill/knowledge in the subject, any test that can be passed by a simple keyword recognition system is measuring your memory only, etc - but the "problems" given are not amongst the things wrong.
It is CERTAINLY wrong not to mention evolution - if you want to take an R.E. exam, that's down the hall, third on your right, through the window. Yes, the one without stairs on the outside.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
MATHS TEST FOR STATE SCHOOLS
Name:
Nickname:
Gang Name:
1. Simon has 0.5 kilos of cocaine. If he sells an 8 ball to Matt for 300 quid and 90 grams to Ollie
for 90 quid, what is the street value of the rest of his hold?
2. Damon pimps 3 bitches. If the price is GBP40 a ride, how many jobs per day must each bitch
perform to support Damon's GBP500 a day coke habit?
3. Crackster wants to cut the kilo of cocaine he bought for 7,000 quid to make a 20% profit. How
many grams of Strychnine will he need?
4. Trev got 6 years for murder. He also got GBP350,000 for the hit. If his common law wife
spends GBP33,100 per month, how much money will be left when he gets out?
Extra Credit Bonus: How much more time will Trev get for killing the slapper that spent his
money?
5. If an average can of spray paint covers 22 square metres and the average letter is 1 square metre,
how many letters can be sprayed with eight fluid ounce cans of spray paint with 20% extra paint
free ?
6. Liam steals Jordan's skateboard. As Liam skates away at a speed of 35mph, Jordan loads his
brother's Armalite. If it takes Jordan 20 seconds to load the gun, how far will Liam have travelled
when he gets whacked?
MATHS TEST FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Name:
(If longer please continue on a separate sheet)
School:
Daddy's/Mummy's Company:
1. Harry smashes up the old man's car, causing x amount of damage and killing 3 people. The old
man asks his local Chief Constable to intervene in the court system, then forges his insurance claim
and receives a payment of y. The difference between x and y is three times the life insurance
settlement for the three dead people. What kind of car is Harry driving now?
2. Fiona's personal shopper decides to substitute generic and own-brand products for the designer
goods favoured by her employer. In the course of a month she saves the price of a return ticket to
Fiji and Fiona doesn't even notice the difference. Is she thick or what?
3. Tristram fancies the arse off a certain number of debutants, but he only has enough Rohypnol left
to render 33.3% unconscious. If he has 14 tablets of Rohypnol, how is he ever going to shag the
other two thirds?
4. If Verity throws up 4 times a day for a week she can fit into a size 8 Versace. If she only throws
up 3 times a day for two weeks, she has to make do with a size 10 Dolce & Gabbana. How much
does liposuction cost?
5. Henry is unsure about his sexuality. Three days a week he fancies women. On the other days he
fancies men, ducks and vacuum cleaners. However he only has access to the Hoover every third
week. When will he stand for parliament?
'Creatures from outer space' is offensive to those who choose not to follow the tenets of imagination.
So maybe there's hope for them yet.
Presumably the banning of aliens is so as not to offend scientologists?
"The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well — for unspecified reasons." Well, Dinosaurs upset another religion. So, this covers Scientologists.
There's a reason JWs don't celebrate birthdays. Both mentions of birthdays in the Bible, one in the Hebrew Scriptures and one in the Greek Scriptures, ended up with the birthday boy ordering someone's execution. See Genesis 40:20-22 and Mark 6:21-27.
I for one applaud NY for at least trying to be consistent about their censorship, rather than merely pandering to one demographic's agenda.
Now we've got another answer to the morons in places like Tennessee if they want to remove references to evolution and dinosaurs: "in that case, we should go the New York way and do it properly".
How do these kids or parents react when they go to the natural museum of history and have to deal with a huge Trex fossil, they just ignore it? say it's fake?
Next on the list, they should either:
A) Ban children from libraries, or
B) Ban any books than mention any of these subjects
Life isn't and shouldn't be so sheltered. If anyone is offended (which is highly doubt) they should 'man up' and deal with it. At no point did anyone in the chain of command think this was a stupid idea
this is the most ridiculous thing i have heard since sponge bob first aired!
Does anyone realize that some test-takers don't know what a "pillow" is? So yeah, the poor kid will stare at some word, wondering what it is, get a worse than accurate score, because the test is testing something that WASN'T TAUGHT IN CLASS. That's what this little rule is trying to avoid. Fair testing for all. 'Bout time.
Cranky educator.
Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists...
What? Why does NYC think that fundamentalists have a problem with dinosaurs?
Noah's ark was plenty big enough for two of each kind of dinosaur baby.
Sorry, but no one has the right to not be offended. Suck it up, grow a thicker skin, and get over it.
I knew a woman who worked as a kindergarten teacher. She had a bunch of Jehovah's Witnesses kids in her class. When any of those JW kids annoyed her past her tolerance limit (which if you are a Kindergarten teacher must be pretty high to start with) she would send home a note to the parent mentioning that they would be celebrating another kids birthday that week. When the JW parents saw such notes they would yank their kids from school for that day - thus instant relief! The kicker was that the parents never worked out that they celebrated more birthdays during the year than there were kids in the class.
.. on Christmas day .. with kids in tow. Talk about cruel to the kids.
And to dick with the parents some more she used to make sure all the kids knew how to sing "Happy Birthday".
On the flip side I once had some JW come to the door soliciting their beliefs
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Scientology. We can't hurt their Thetan feelings can we.
In almost constant events like these in this society, a comment like this can not really be looked at as trolling, when it is merelly postulating the future outcome of moronic policies like these.
Government schools are not appropriate unless the culture is homogeneous. In in a heterogeneous mix of cultures, government schools inevitably tax a person to pay for compulsory lessons that are counter to his culture's beliefs. This is unjust.
It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought ... should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
"Education is being redefined at the demand of the uneducated to suit the ideals of the uneducated"
There are big differences between an everyday Christian and Fundamentalist; the most showcased of all differences is that a Fundy has to believe that the Bible is the end-all, no mistakes included way of the world. No picky-choosy, ever. In order to do that, they need to believe that the world (and the encompassing universe) is only 6,000 years old. To acknowledge the fact that dinos existed, with its carbon-dated proof is to instantly dispute the Bible's teachings. Therefore, they will dismiss anything, anything, that goes against one iota of the Good Book's teachings, no matter how much proof is given.
You want to know how to help your kids? LEAVE THEM THE F*&K ALONE. --George Carlin
'creatures from outer space' leaves an awfully big hole! Who needs to go to other worlds; you just need a bit of imagination.
im sensative to tests.. and they make me upset.. so lets scrap them all together.
Testing always caused unpleasant emotions for me...
Better strike WW II from the history books as well. Wouldn't want to offend any German immigrants regarding the events between 1939 and 1945, or bring back bad memories for any Jews living in NYC.
For that matter lets just ban all history books... most of the events in history involve a struggle between two or more parties, and are therefore offensive.
and Halloween suggests paganism.
You mean the religions that most of the christian holidays are based on in the first place?
Don't forget to ban "morons", we wouldn't want the New York educators to get upset.
Actually, Halloween suggests Christianity.
Halloween is a contraction of "All Hallow's Eve", where "Hallow" is archaic for "Holy". All Hallow's Day was supposed to be a day when you remembered all the dead saints; All Hallow's Eve was the night before it, just as we have Christmas Eve. True, it supplanted the pagan festival of Samhain, but it's in good company there, as Christmas supplanted the pagan festival of Yuletide. The only really legitimate Christian festival is Easter (the timing of which can be traced Biblically to the Jewish Passover), and even then, the name is derived from a pagan goddess (Eostre).
TESTS!
Ban them!!!
The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well - for unspecified reasons.
So how are they going to get their qualifications? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
... and now they seem to be gearing up for the War on Hacking. Why is no one talking about the War on Education? It seems to be well under way in the US, every time I check the web I see another instance of Religious Fundamentalists or Politicians doing their utmost to ensure the US population is as ignorant as possible.
I think they should take away the tax exempt status for all religious institutions, so there is less money to be had by promoting it. That will eliminate a lot of the tele-evangelist types/scammers and just leave us with the true religious people. If they are busy scrabbling to pay the taxes on all those churches, maybe they won't be so able to foster ignorance in lives of others.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
What are you, retarded?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Take everything they say with a massive fistful of salt. I expected better of most people here... it's pretty well known as a trash rag
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
i demand you retract this story. there are some posts here that hurt my feelings
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Just checking... How many people have swimming pools in NYC? I mean I don't live there, but isn't it pretty solid urban? Do they have suburbs of detached homes?
Condos with pools and gyms, sure. But houses with personal pools?
I'm a Christian and I find this completely silly.
So I'm disposed to treat this as a hoax. Any NY kid who's too sensitive to read about religion or wealth or any of the above mentioned topics in a test question is going to spontaneously combust the second he looks up from his test and looks around at the classmates sitting next to him. Even when you live in a neighborhood strongly associated with a particular group, say the hasidic part of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, you're still gonna encounter at least 50 other ethnicities and religions before the day is done. It's New York.
Saying any kid is going to be more tramautized by a test than that daily reality is absurd, and no New York official would be so daft as to take that policy position.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
This is tyranny of a set of minorities, who all expect to have their irrational beliefs respected and tolerated. Is this another instance of what the ecologist Hardin called the Tragedy of the Commons? By making use of simple, seemingly reasonable demands, a large number of individuals exploits a shared resource (culture, education) up to the point where the total of the actions disables the system. Religious and political freedom may now destroy the education system and with it the environment that makes these freedoms viable in the first place.
How do well-intentioned people paint themselves into such ridiculous corners? It really beats me. Unpleasant emotions are part of life. Tests are supposed to be pleasant? Since when? And since when do people need to be insulated from customs in which they don't take part? A JW kids knows he does not get a birthday party. He is probably proud of the fact that he doesn't; that is, if he has bought into his religion and is proud of that. But he should know that other kids do celebrate birthdays and then be taught to be glad for them. No mention of Hanukkah because some celebrate only Christmas or vice versa? Please. And some other kids celebrate Ramadan and Kwanzaa etc etc. It is called diversity and reasonable people think it is a good thing.
Dinosaurs in the fossil record are established scientific fact. Kids love dinosaurs. There is no controversy concerning them. Especially in a public school setting. Has NYC suddenly gone creationist? If this were in Kansas I might not be surprised. But NYC? Whoa. Come on. No school trips to the natural history museum, kids. They teach "science" there. WTF! If somebody's kid freaks because evolution is invoked he should be counseled. Or, if his parents are also freaked, then they can send him to a religious school that provides a spiritual non-scientific view of the universe. Public schools should try to teach facts.
Most kids celebrate Halloween, which has pagan roots. So? So do many religious customs. Candle lighting echoes Zoroastrian fire worship. No one should make a kid participate in Halloween fun, of course. But he should know that some people do like to do so. If a kid feels bad because his parents won't let him. Tough. Kids feel bad all the time because their parents restrict their behavior for religious and other family centric reasons.
Lastly. I do agree about the space aliens. They have no place on a test about the real world because there is no evidence to date that they exist. I will concede that it stands to reason that they are out there (Thanks, Dr Sagan.). But no one has delivered up any credible proof to date. So no aliens for the children. No aliens whatsoever. And that is final.
PS If this is a pre-April Fools joke by Rupe and his no-ethics thugs at News Corp to make us liberals look bad, then I have been punked into a rant. But screw them. Fake news is not funny when it has an ulterior political motive. Hmmm. The more I think about this the more likely I think it is that this nasty story is a News Corp send up. But what the heck. I'll post and be punked.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Fail
The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well — for unspecified reasons."
Because THE TRUTH! is uncomfortable.
you like childs left behinds? no wonder you can't compete in the Real World any more.
and in china they just tech the test and it's all about the test and how to pass it not about how to under stand whats on the test.
Speaking as someone born and raised in NYC all I have to say is, what... the... fuck!
I did a glance over the summary and thought 'Oh some bible belt city banned mentioning dinosaurs on city tests, hah!' Then I did a double take and read NYC...
We have community pools, the natural history museum that every city school seems to visit (featuring the only thing most kids remember, THE DINOSAUR EXHIBIT) and paintings of the virgin mary made from elephant shit. If there was a place any of these things might offend a group of people, this isn't it!
I can't believe this PC bullshit actually made it past the board of ed without any parents kicking up a shitstorm...
a Fundy has to believe that the Bible is the end-all, no mistakes included way of the world. No picky-choosy, ever (except the parts they don't fancy)
FTFY
What the hell is happening to this world.
Anyone else have to check their URL bar?
The new secret is to propose stuff so preposterous that it numbs the sanity checkers into a coma and then gets passed. I mean, don't "promote religious tolerance", ban everybuddy's favorite prehistoric animal, Dinosaurs, because ... wait for it... a TurboFundy Christian might be upset.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Just imagine not being able to mention Congress given the fact it's packed full of dinosaurs. Then again there's no evolution taking place so maybe it is a safe subject.
yes, it's stupid. no, it's not a ban; it's just part of a spec sheet on ordering standardized tests. it's also relatively, if not completely, harmless. this cannot necessarily be said of standardized testing in the first place.
it's sillier to get into a froth over this, than it is for it to have happened in the first place. there is no slippery slope. this doesn't affect learning in any way.
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
...a Fundy has to believe that the Bible is the end-all, no mistakes included way of the world. No picky-choosy, ever.
Until they get to the rules that they don't like. Not eating pork and shellfish, stuff like that.
So, a regular christian just gets to pick and choose which ridiculous things from the bible are true, and dismiss anything that goes against what they personally want to believe? That's SO much better.
Are you fucking kidding me?
What the fuck is wrong with this country? Are people this fucking uppity that they see a harmless words like birthday, dinosaur and Halloween and they can't deal with it?
What happens when they get on the internet and they see words like cunt and cocksucker and fucktard?
My friend was eaten by a dinosaur.
It was part of a fraternity hazing. I miss him. :
But many get still incorporate dinosaurs into their beliefs by saying they existed alongside man and where made extinct by the great flood.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
What about when the dumb kids (i.e. those subjected to bureaucratic government "education") start finding the tough questions objectionable? Or when the illiterate ones start finding written questions objectionable?
This is all about money.
NGO's, Charities, pressure groups, etc... they all try to make money when someone is "offended". Plead outrage -> release angry statement -> remind people that they exist, and make it look as though they are doing something about their cause -> then go cap in hand for donations = profit.
It's easy, easy, easy money. Usually costs nothing more than a press release, and rakes in a lot of $$$
Nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is ever actually fucking offended, nor outraged, nor emotionally damaged by any of these things. Sticks and stones. It's just the parasitical rights orgs that are taking up the offense on their behalf, in order to cash-in.
Obviously NY doesn't want the political hassle or potential lawsuits. In some ways I can understand that, the one word that people who always bang on about minority rights all the time cannot tolerate, is the word "no". It's about time someone did say "no" to them, and they lose their easy gravy-train. By giving in to this politically correct garbage, they are just taking society towards Idiocracy all the quicker.
But then, Education is really all about money too (higher education, especially). At the end of the day, very few of them actually care whether anyone actually learns anything, as long as the checks keep coming in.
So you're not going to mention dinosaurs, which existed (rational evidence given by their fossilized bones), because it might ruffle some people who believe in something for which there is no rational evidence?
Say, don't creationists simply believe that dinosaurs were created and are therefore not offended by dinosaurs?
I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a fish I am a (damn you lameness filter!)
Forgive me but this is either a way too early April Fool's prank or the worst case of trying to be politically correct I have ever seen. Unpleasant emotions are part of life. Learning to deal with them in a constructive manner is also part of life. Not learning to deal with unpleasant emotions can lead to murder, rape, theft and every other crime in the book. Perhaps this is why the prison system is overloaded?
With people like this teaching, it's no wonder that masters degree's as worthless enough to maybe apply at McDonald's. I don't think they should bend over for every retard out there just because they're pissed one day out of nowhere. I mean where is the common sense anymore? I think my grandfather would have gone into some office just to call someone an idiot just as a principle lol... I don't get why everyone is all emotional and shit now. wtf. it already ruined music (especially rap, if you can still call it that), what else do they want???
'Homes with swimming pools and computers are also unmentionables here' This makes me think this article is a rehash about something 10-15 years out of date.
"Test" and "Exam" are scarey words for me, and questions upset me too. Ban them all!
wonder how the poster got an idea for the name
What a way to prepare them for the real world where there are no dinosaurs or birthdays.
Last week I overheard a conversation in a cafe. A woman was telling a friend how her family was having a hard time because she had decided to no celebrate Easter or Christmas with her family. I thought "Good for her, not thoughtlessly letting religion set her celebrations."
Then I heard the reason she wasn't going to celebrate them was because they were based on Pagan rites and no proper Christian should celebrate such wickedness.
You can't win for losing.
This is a matter of making tests fair by challenging what many assume to be common knowledge and correcting this accordingly. It has long been known that white kids outperform black kids on IQ tests. Actually I guess it's not that well known since it's a very unpopular fact... But one of the reasons offered for this is that the base knowledge that the testers assume of the test takers doesn't match. The examples of the home computer and swimming pool are perfect examples of this, can they give an unfair advantage to kids that do know about these things. Similarly, asking a question such as "Sam's birthday is Oct 8, Henry's birthday is October 7, Jeff's birthday is June 9, which birthday is closest to Jeff's" could produce a major "WTF?" for a child who has no grasp on the concept of birthdays, even if they are quite good at math. I'm all for producing an equal testing environment, and it's not like we're running out of ways to ask questions.
I believe it could be possible that Dinosaurs were demonic beings in physical form.
It's curious to me why the "serpent" mentioned in Genesis is always depicted in artwork as a "snake" without limbs when it wasn't until it was cursed and made to travel on its belly, thus what we view now as "snake-like".
Instead, the artwork should correctly depict what the "serpent" looked like PRIOR to its transformation. Some ancient texts do depict dragon headed like creatures, sometimes with legs and/or a serpent tail and hands, sometimes with claws and sometimes with wings.
The next time you're out in nature, and you see a snake and/or lizard, watch to see how it looks at you, if at all. Many of the smaller lizards, even if you remain motionless, will look at you and move their head around examining you very carefully, rather than being occupied with insects available or not close to them.
The, "Don't tread of me!" flag (the same symbol of the snake appearing on Metallica's black album cover and the theme appearing in a song) is Illuminati based and God gives us, as The Bible states, power over all of the enemy, including serpents and scorpions. Serpents and scorpions, I believe, are spiritual enemies/demonic, apart from the serpents and scorpions you see in nature. The Bible also tells us we fight against evil invisible powers.
People who bash religion or religious beliefs, really I could care less for your answers, I've been there, I entered the realm of 'non-belief' and nihilistic brain washing for a period of time, until I was "awoken" and the blindness was cleared from my eyes.
These evil beings still exist, but they are cowards when you attack them through Yahweh, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit, they run faster than the wind! Do not be afraid of them if/when they appear, even if only as noises in your environment which may persist, instead, make the sign of the cross and call upon Yahweh, Christ Jesus, Holy Spirit and command them to leave and follow up with scripture. Ask God to fill you with His power and for His angels to have charge over you.
God's power and the power He gives to us is real, but we are not to marvel in us, so The Bible says, but instead know that we have it.
The ghost shows, fake though many or most must be, are also rooted, IMO, in the Satanic nature which blinds and moves like a vile cloud around the Earth. God is there to talk to, all of the time, everywhere. The people who promote "ghost hunting" are, IMO, in on the Satanic conspiracy festering "behind the scenes" in today's world.
The non believers love to try and use logic, many of them are Satanists who have studied Christianity and know, like the demons who tremble, the truth, instead they are lost in their own blindness through pride or other pitfalls, and try and sway as many belivers as possible, often through science, which is limited.
Bonus points for rabid attacks, mocking, indifference, or mention of unicorns of FSM, but real points awarded for those who choose the TRUE light, not the FALSE light(s), the TRUE light of GOD.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of The Lord.
Peace be with you, reader.
While I acknowledge the apparent insanity of the political correctness that seems to be the cause of this case, these sorts of exclusions are there for a reason. Tests should evaluate the topics they're designed to evaluate, not grade people on how "normal" their family background is. As an example, my mom was a nurse for a head start preschool and when she was going through records she noticed one kid had been labeled as having a low IQ. She could see he clearly wasn't dumb, so she looked into where the label came from. One of the main causes was that during an IQ test the kid was shown a picture of a birthday cake and he didn't recognize it and said it was a candle pie. A little research showed that he was a member of a religious group that didn't believe in celebrating birthdays, so he literally had never seen a birthday cake before.
PCness can certainly get out of control, and it sounds like it has in this case, but this is a serious topic. There are consequences for low scores on tests. This kid had been labeled dumb because he had never seen a birthday cake. When low scores are based on some sort of cultural gap, that's punishing kids who come from social groups that are out of the mainstream. Kids from _all_ social groups should be required to learn the same material, and as an example, I strongly object to parents keeping their kids from being taught evolution because of their religious beliefs. At the same time I think it's wrong to test kids on topics related to evolution (including dinosaurs) before the school has taught you about them.
Given all the fundamentalist Jews living in NYC, I wonder if they weren't the reason for the ban on dinosaurs. I even had a friend tell me they had to program all the elevators in NYC to automatically go through a cycle on Sundays (or is it Saturdays) to open the door, close it, go to the next floor, open the door, close it, go to the next floor, etc. in a loop, so that Hassidic Jews wouldn't have to use the elevator controls on that day, because their religion forbids them from doing any kind of work that day (but somehow, walking into the elevator is OK).
NYC never seemed like a hotbed of fundamentalist Christianity; that's the southeast and the heartland.
FTA: In fact, sensitivity guidelines recently published by a group of states creating new high-stakes exams also caution against mentioning luxuries, group dancing, junk food, homelessness or witches. Yet a comparison shows the city's list, at 50 topics, is nearly twice as long and has fewer exceptions.
The reason it's twice as long is probably because New York City is extremely multicultural relative to most of the rest of the US. It's hard to grasp how extreme until you've lived here for a while. There are women in burkas on the beach. There are huge communities of people here who live almost like the Amish. The fact that NY's list of excluded words is twice as long as other places seems like a big "so what".
Those new yorkers will never know. l
Don't you have to leave out reason and common sense so as not to intimidate the genuinely stupid? Oh, I see what you're doing now....
Real space aliens would surely find any imaginary creatures from outer space which might creep into tests, offensive. And even if they are not around now to take offense, that doesn't mean they will never be around, never dig into historical test records and never take offense to what might be there. And, being space aliens and all, who knows what kinds of imaginings about them will be offensive.
Urban legend.
Raptor Jesus will not take kindly to this.
They banned mention of Halloween because it suggests paganism.
Hallowe'en is short for "All Hallows Eve" is a Christian feast coming before All Saints Day (see Wikipedia). While it was conveniently timed to coincide with a traditional pagan holiday so was Christmas. Hence Hallowe'en suggests paganism as much as Christmas does.
I suggest a new rule: those put in charge of education should be required to have had one.
What a stupid, weak, pathetic, cowardly, insane load of Nanny-State idiocy.
They are are endangering their kids' minds.
They are endangering freedom of speech.
By breeding stupified, scared, intolerant ninnies who cannot accept diversity in the world, they are endangering kids, adults and society in general.
I really would have expected better of New York.
So the argument is that it's better to teach kids to avoid talking about sensitive issues then talk about them in the open to get the potential pressure relieved?
Looks like we don't have enough divorces and other similar situations often caused by people preferring not to talk things out until it blows up yet.
I enjoy reading stuff like this, at first i giggle and think it's just a joke, then i step back into reality and face palm hard.
Oh America, what happened to you? You used to be cool.
Can they mention pigs because Jew's don't eat unblessed pork?. Can they mention the big bang because God created the universe in 7 days etc.... How far will this go, make the cry babies grow up and move into the 21st century!
Does anyone really deny dinosaurs existed?
Also, why on earth are they seeking to offend EVERYONE by making these tests so completely politically correct?
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
What happens if Barney sings Happy Birthday while dancing? Maybe the heads of NYC school administrators and perpetual copyright fascists will both explode. Flash mob in Barney suits at NYC board of ed HQ? Ummm... too much effort. Purple shirt. Something purple and/or with a dinosaur on it. Everybody sings Happy Birthday. Just name the time; but I won't be there. It ain't worth a 3000 mile trip.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I find all mention of the word water offensive, as I am a witch from Oz, which means that water is very dangerous to me. I'm sure there are enough witches from the Land of Oz, that feel the same way. I just hate how the city administrators are so indifferent to our cause. We are a totally viable minority, and we do contribute to the community. Sure, we occasionally go on a rampage and destroy a city here and there, but we're people too. I'm very disappointed that they're not censoring their tests, and other public documents with us in mind.
Of course they can't mention "creatures from outer space". That would upset our benevolent alien overlords.
I am totally fine with these highly important (politically) school testing programs be completely politically correct. They should create even more regulations for test designers that go beyond a simple banned word list.
Have you read any of these tests? I have. The math problems were in english? yes, testing math by using reading comprehension. One problem used a banister - for a 3rd grade math problem! Ban the use of words like that. I don't think I've heard somebody ever use the word banister in conversation now that I think of it.
Some problems have cultural biases, consumer biases, and a few looked to me like IQ problems more than anything else. Spacial relations problems? really? they do nothing to develop those skills anymore-- all that stuff was removed for more teaching for the test. One principal was clever in that he made all the parents take their child's test. It was sad how they did on it but he woke many of them up.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
"For that matter, since when is evolution invoked at the mere mention of a giant lizard?" ... oh right, "Giants", yeas I recall some of those in there just prior to the "Great Flood" event right? Nephilim weren't they? Whose height was as the height of cedar trees, and in some accounts 300 cubits tall or 450 feet (600' if using Jewish cubit measurements) high huh? Nothing that 'giant' could possibly have existed.
Peeks into bible book
Unless, we're to believe of unearthly beings, from off planet in a galaxy far far away?
Ponders the "giant" hologram of Ra, used in one of the Stargate SG-1 episodes... oh yah with awesome technology? Yowie. I think I hurt my brain again.
On the other hand I have SEEN the bones of Whales, and horn of the Unicorn of the seas so called Narwhal... and verily so I have SEEN with these ocular orbs in my head the bones of dinosaurs. I'm pretty convinced they once existed, and were of a reasonable gigantic size. But NOTHING have I seen bears out anything living 450 feet tall walking on the earth unless trees once had legs and wandered at will like the great Moose.
M'kay then... back to this NYC test criteria thing a majig... sigh. Yeah in a nutshell this "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS" Bool - Shyet, really needs to come to a full and complete stop. No passing GO or collecting $200.
Its just nuts. Really, c'mon folks we're human beings for crying out loud.
This strange comment at the bottom of the message is illogical.
A country founded on personal liberties. You're free to to practice your religion as long as it doesn't infringe on others rights to various freedoms.
You don't get a choice to decide you don't want to allow others those freedoms, nor should we have to walk on eggshells to avoid hurting your precious little feelings. Get with the program, or get the fuck out. It's that simple.
Fucking stupid that South Park has become reality in this fashion. You're offended? Good. Watch this (relevant bit at ~3:40 mark) and then go fuck yourself.
The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well — for unspecified reasons.
That's because it might upset said extraterrestrials - the politically correct term is 'persons of extraterrestrial origin'. Although recently they find that just as upsetting too, since it defines the universe as terrans and non-terrans.
A nation that fears to teach real science is doomed to fail. Teachers shouldn't fear to teach about evolution, big bang, solar system, etc.
You are 3 days early with april fool article. Because this is an April fool article, right ? ..... right ..... ?
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#NoRaptors
Oh yeah, this is a great idea... Can;t have them kids hearing about ideas and concepts they aren't comfortable with, it's not like any of those things actually exist in the real world that they'll have to deal with when they grow up. Can;t have anyone's feelings hurt. In the real world you'll never encounter anyone or anything different that challenges your worldview.... /sarcasm off
Sweet jumping Jesus listening to an expensive iPod on a pogo-sticking Veociraptor bouncing into Allah's swimming pool while Bhudda sees who's sharing his birthday on the his new computer abnd choosing how big of a wart to wear on his Halloween witch's costume....
... complete with all the fake fossil records and our fake memories of anything earlier.
... But I suppose we all might just as well go along with the illusion as there is nothing else to do.
Or : we are just wired-up brains in jars set up three days ago and controlled by a megalomaniac sky fairy.
Prove me wrong
Not so. Shabbat elevators can be found all over NYC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_elevator
For those buildings where the True Believer nutjobs can't afford such a fancy elevator, they can simply bring in a Shabbat goy - a non-Jew to do the "work" of button pushing for them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbos_goy
The world is not so small as to be comprised of only "urban legends" outside your realm of experience.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
In school, regardless of content the tests themselves often gave them to me.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
its bad enough these words are even on the list in the first place.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Yet another indication that what will destroy the human race will be not nuclear war, but base, mindless, idiocy...
Might not be able to mention spaghetti either. His Noodliness and followers may be offended ;)
"You killed my yogurt!" --Fred Fredburger
I think they should ban any mention of "New York educators" as that phrase may evoke thoughts of lobotomies, heavy drug use, brain donors, electrocution of the brain's pain centre, stupid people and muppets.
There's nothing "Christian" about All Hallows Eve. It is common knowledge, and even says so in the link you yourself provided:
"The Halloween holiday is commonly thought to have pagan roots, even though the etymology of the word is Christian."
Perhaps "Christian" in the sense when pagan beliefs and Christianity were "fused" together under Constantine, thus forming Christendom, but certainly that would not be a practice for the first-century Christians.
There's a night and day difference between original Christians and the mainstream Christianity that followed.
We need to make sure that no one is offended by parts of the big wide world out there that might be difficult.
First we can remove hurtful words, like "fat" or "stupid."
Then we can remove hurtful topics, like death and taxes.
Finally, we can ensure that nothing that anyone does can infringe on any of the 458,013 special interest groups that currently inhabit America.
After that, we can tell each other "Good day, how are you?" and "I'm well thanks" because that's all that will be left to say.
Education is going to be a dirty word in the future if they are not careful. Idiots.
There is no obligation to obey any law that is not constitutional, even if it has not been declared unconstitutional.
Freedom of speach is very clearly a right. If I want to mention any of those things, i will do exactly that, and I am not concerned about offending other groups.
Clearly this is about Muslims. It's a first step to laws preventing offending speech to muslims, while allowing them to talk their hate towards anything they do not like.
ANY and EVERY New Yorker that does not stand against that nonsense is a coward and a traitor. After being there durring 9/11/2001 and seeing it all first hand, then allowing the spread of Islam, and being stupid enough to believe the muslims that tell you it is peaceful, and being coward enough to allow a victory mosque to be built and actually used (ground zero mosque); I believe all New Yorkers to be a bunch of traitors and cowards.
I would love to see the headlines in the papers tomorrow read "Ground Zero Mosque - Burned to the ground".
I'm just say'in.
"The city asks test companies to exclude 'creatures from outer space' as well â" for unspecified reasons."
Seems pretty obvious to me - it would really freak out children of batshit scientologists (yes, I know, redundant)
So the lesson is... people with birthdays are assholes?
As RussR42 pointed out, a birthday is like an anus in that everybody has one. But also like one's anus, not everybody needs to be excessive in exhibiting one's birthday. Instead of holding back generosity until one day a year, it's better to be generous in smaller portions throughout the year so that someone can give when someone else really needs it. See more of my thoughts on birthdays.
Same with Halloween. Same with Easter.
I understand that as with what would otherwise be birthday presents, JW parents spread candy throughout the year instead of letting their kids binge two days a year. But if not at Halloween, when are Jehovah's Witnesses allowed to do public cosplay?
It gets mentioned twice because God likes rape.
Femshep wants to buy a birthday gift for her Asari lover.
The stuffed dinosaur costs $4 and the Siari goddess statue costs $2.
How much will FemShep spend all together on her?
Hey NY, you're raising wimps!
Since our education system was designed to create a class of people just smart enough to read, follow instructions, and work in the factories, and we pretty much don't have any factories left, are they gutting education down to just smart enough to read at an internet level (spell-checkers for all) and jack-booting the police and legal system until all we are able to do without a lifetime's incarceration is follow orders from anyone who says that they are our authority figure?
Why are all you turkeys arguing about an English translation? It's not the same (literally or idiomatically as the original Greek/whatever language it was first written in.
If you can't read the original, it's probably a sign from God that you're not worthy of enlightenment anyway.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
You think that's daft, take a look at this.
Essentially, they create an extremely complicated set of things you aren't allowed to do, and then create an extremely complicated set of rules for exemptions.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
With the number of comments in this thread, this has bound to have been said repeatedly and in various forms, but that's not enough - I need to say it myself.
:)
This is the stupidest load of horseshit I've heard of in a loooong time. This is *reality* we live in. Being offended because someone shared an opposing opinion seems completely idiotic and closed minded. Creating laws/regulations around such closed minded attitudes sets a dangerous precedent. This *might* be putting on the tinfoil hat for a moment, but, really... how long before this gets accepted as normal, then big brother starts using this precedent to stifle any discussion that opposes its views? That might be *slightly* unrealistic and contrived, but my original point is still valid. (Unless you happen to be offended by my original point, in which case I should lose the right to express it, correct?)
Sorry... I feel better now, thanks for reading!
No, that's wrong. I should really learn to proofread before hitting "Submit".
2+2=1, 4, 7, ... (mod 3). Not 5.
"The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
Darn, you beat me to the correction, I'll stick to using large values of 2.
And so as to not upset the parents, no mention will be made of taxes, price of gasoline, or politician's pensions/slush funds/kickbacks/etc.