Of course, there’s no other possible place the young’uns could go to look up words so as to prevent them from using them properly in a sentence. And if you don’t know the meaning of a word or phrase like “oral sex,” there’s no possibility of them doing what the word means.

The Menifee Union School District is forming a committee to review whether dictionaries containing the definitions for sexual terms should be permanently banned from the district’s classrooms, a district official said Friday.

The 9,000-student K-8 district this week pulled all copies of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary after an Oak Meadows Elementary School parent complained about a child stumbling across definitions for “oral sex.”

The decision was made without consultation with the district’s school board and has raised concerns among First Amendment experts and some parents.
[…]
The collegiate dictionaries were purchased several years ago to allow advanced readers in the fourth and fifth grades to look up words that they didn’t know, Cadmus said.

And the crowds begin to chant…
“What do we want?” “Ignorance Now!”
“When do we want it?” “Later. American Idol is on.”

California Department of Education spokeswoman Tina Jung said parents need to get involved and talk to their children about what they consider appropriate and inappropriate.

“It’s quite possible that no one could have foreseen that kids would look up words that pique their curiosity,” Jung said.

As the school website says, “Please call us with any questions you may have.”
28600 Poinsettia Street
Murrieta, CA 92563
Phone: (951) 246-4210 Fax: (951) 679-4637 Email: gruiz@menifeeusd.org




  1. The Haunted Sheep says:

    We need to put a fence around California and they can just ride their liberal nanny state crap straight to hell instead of taking all of us with em.

  2. Grace Augustine says:

    Two things are found everywhere in the universe (not just California): hydrogen, and stupidity.

  3. RBG says:

    Maybe they could satisfy the 1st amendment, the desire to stumble, and educate children all at the same time by printing the definition of oral sex across kids’ T-shirts.

    RBG

  4. cwitzel says:

    The email link is down. I wonder why?

    My solution: Send your kids to Texas. Our kids don’t even know what dictionaries are!!

    We try to keep them as stupid as possible, that way we can keep our top spot on the Teen Pregnancy list. We’re Number One!! We’re Number One!!

    Don’t mess with Texas!!

  5. Animby says:

    So they think this is new behavior? I remember in the fifth grade (and it’s been a loooong time since I was in the 5th grade!) sitting with some friends and looking up every dirty word we could think of. I suspect we did not invent this pastime.

    Anyway, if the kids can’t look up “oral sex” in the dictionary, they’ll look up a demonstration on the interweb. Oh, hell: they’ll look up the demo, anyway…

  6. Stooosh says:

    It might be a little late, document claims oral sex is the new goodnight kiss.

    http://mashtrends.com/01/digg-trends/teens-in-abc-documentary-oral-sex-is-the-new-goodnight-kiss/

  7. Nobody says:

    @#6Stooosh
    that must give gramma a hell of a shock!

  8. Luc says:

    Dude, seriously, what’s this HUGE hangup that you Americans have about sex?

  9. Luc says:

    Here is another thought: do any parents anywhere motion for banning dictionaries that contain entries that describe violence, like kill, murder, slaughter, maim, behead? Does any parent freak out over walking in on their child while the child is watching a very violent movie as much as they would if the child were watching a scene with a couple having sex? I’d like to ask that to Leo Laporte. He took his son to see Inglorious Bastards. Would he take his son to see Last Tango in Paris?

    Our sick society idolizes violence. And it hates sex because it’s too closely related to love. Love is offensive because love is for the weak. Strong people don’t love, strong people are tough and proud and hate and kill and say “Fuck yeah!”

    The Western world isn’t that much better than the primitive tribes of the Middle East. Their acts are different, but the moral values are very similar.

  10. cwitzel says:

    Luc,

    You are in luck!! Come to Texas!!

    Here in Texas, we love violent executions. We are Number One!! We are Number One!!

    Got to keep the scum off the street, even if they are innocent!! It’s all about numbers! We are Number One!! We are Number One!!

    We are way better that the Middle East because we can’t flog!! At least until the next legislature. God willing!

  11. Greg Allen says:

    >> The Haunted Sheep said, on January 25th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
    >> We need to put a fence around California and they can just ride their liberal nanny state crap straight to hell instead of taking all of us with em.

    Banning books is liberal? You make me laugh.

    The dictionary has been banned in Missouri, Alaska (and I believe Texas too.)

    What bastions of liberalness!

    http://tinyurl.com/b4c2mv

  12. Fluffy Rabbit says:

    California Department of Education spokeswoman Tina Jung said . . .

    “It’s quite possible that no one could have foreseen that kids would look up words that pique their curiosity,” Jung said.

    What planet did she grow up on? All kids are human, and all humans are sexual beings. Every kid I ever knew (except me of course, I am such a good rabbit) spent hours “researching” everything about sex we (I mean they) could find.

  13. RBG says:

    9 Luc

    I can’t say what the stats are for teens taking out a life, but as for bringing it in:

    “just under 1/3 of all girls in the United States will get pregnant in their teenage years.”

    Perhaps that helps explain the fixation re sex over violence. I mean aside from 2 billion years of genetic programming to ensure successful reproduction.

    RBG

  14. 9 Luc “The Western world isn’t that much better than the primitive tribes of the Middle East.”

    Speak for yourself mate! Its not a western world thing, its an American thing. I’ve never heard of anyone else in the western world banning dictionaries because it has dirty terms. In the UK we get titties every morning on page 3 of the daily tabloid (The Sun). Canadians get at least get a girl an in bikiny on their page 3. Any Antipodeans out there who can say whether Australia or New Zealand are pro-violence/anti-sex like the US?

  15. TFabP says:

    I really am so glad they did this, because who knows what kinds of words they might be looking up and learing to do. Think of it – after looking up blowjob, they could look up Racist, and become one, Pervert and become one, Homosexual and become one, Sex offender and become one, Pedophile and becomee one, IDIOT and become their PARENT!

  16. Benjamin says:

    I feel dumber just reading this article. This is a dumber book-banning story than the dim-bulbs in the school district that wanted to ban Fahrenheit 451.

  17. Benjamin says:

    Here is where they wanted to ban Fahrenheit 451. Ironic that it was during banned books week. http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/640931.html#cutid1

  18. ethanol says:

    @cwitzel #4,
    You do realize that the slogan, “Don’t mess with Texas” is an anti-litter campaign slogan, right?

  19. Benjamin says:

    #19, He thinks it’s an anti-literary campaign. Interesting how cwitzel can’t read.

  20. punktlich2 says:

    Good thing that our kids go to the Lycée Français which, if it has any stupid parents who want to perpetuate their stupidity in the next generation, doesn’t have to listen to them.


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