Merriam Webster Dictionary, 10th Edition
In what is as absurd as it sounds, the dictionary has been deemed inappropriate. “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.” WHAT? Apparently, one parent noticed that there was an entry for ‘oral sex’ and threw a fit. “The Menifee ban is particularly troubling, because it is based on one parent’s complaint, Bertin said.”
Now, to be honest, I’m sure loads of kids spend chunks of their childhood giggling as they look up all the dirty words they overhear other people using. It’s a perk of learning how to read younger than your classmates.
This totally seems like the overreaction of one ninny of a mother and is now holding back the education of the rest of the school because her snot-nosed kid might find a word earlier than she would have him. I love dictionaries, and find this entirely outrageous.
I’m fairly confident that the committee in charge of reviewing the case will ultimately overturn the decision, but just the fact that this occurred is absurd. That particular dictionary has over 215,000 definitions, but somehow one (of the many) terms that could be found a little too mature gets noticed, and the district pulls the dictionary. THE DICTIONARY! It’s not a filthy book!
It’s actually a great book to read, if you don’t mind the complete lack of a plot.
Original article here.
