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NYC Bans Mention of Dinosaurs, Dancing, Birthdays On Student Tests

Posted by Soulskill on from the prepositions-banned-for-being-too-elitist dept.

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."

2 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. Why JWs don't celebrate birthdays by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  2. Re:Great by bmo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oh look, if I look at CBS New York, there is a fuller article saying that it is a list of suggested words that may be banned from tests.

    And the CBS story has the whole list of words being mulled over.

    In other words, the debate over what should on the list is ongoing.

    The reason for this is that you want to make tests that are fair to everyone. If you're going to make a math test with word problems, you don't bring up the subject of murder. The obvious drawback is that it makes tests boring. Big fucking deal.

    TFS and The Post has taken this to mean they are already banned and that this is just more "educrat nonsense" and it's written in such breathless style (they even use the word bizarre to describe it) merely to be inflammatory. It's journalistic porn.

    While I agree the list, as it stands, is sub-optimal, it doesn't mean that the list is final and that it's probably likely that the list is going to get a lot shorter.

    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/

    I told you there was more to this, but hey, let everyone believe the fucking Post. The Post is in the business of selling newspapers, not news.

    --
    BMO