New York City schools want to ban 'loaded words' from tests - "Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religi
93 replies, posted
[QUOTE=overpain;35353334]Fuck em i will create my own religion with dinosaurs and television..
Whos with me?[/QUOTE]
blackjack and hookers?
[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;35354941]blackjack and hookers?[/QUOTE]
Yup, not to mention space weed.
you guys are too entrenched in your own cultural and socio-economical norms to see why this is a positive change. you have it in your mind that your life experiences and your set of morals and beliefs should apply to everybody on Earth.
testing environments should be as comfortable as possible, regardless of your cultural or religious beliefs and feelings. this has nothing to do with political correctness or fundamentalism, nor does it violate freedom of speech. the purpose of this proposal is to remove words which may cause students to become upset, uncomfortable or confused
NYC is the most ethnically diverse city in the US where 44.6% of the populace are white, 27.5% are hispanic, 25.1% are black, 11.8% are asian, and 16% are of other ethnicities, with immigrants making up 36% of the total population.
with this data in mind, it's easy to see why most of these words are up for consideration to be removed from use in standardized test questions.
[quote]
Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological) - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Birthday celebrations (and birthdays) - [b]culturally and religiously biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Bodily functions - [b]can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Cancer (and other diseases) - [b]can cause upset and confusion, can be a trigger[/b]
Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes) - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Celebrities - [b]can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Children dealing with serious issues - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia) - [b]can cause upset[/b]
Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting) - [b]socio-economically biased, can cause confusion[/b]
Crime - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Death and disease - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Divorce - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Evolution - [b]can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes - [b]socio-economically biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Gambling involving money - [b]can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Halloween - [b]culturally and religiously biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Homelessness - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Homes with swimming pools - [b]socio-economically and culturally biased, can cause confusion[/b]
Hunting - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Junk food - [b]normalizes poor health choices, can be confusing[/b]
In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge - [b]culturally biased, can cause confusion[/b]
Loss of employment - [b]can be a trigger[/b]
Nuclear weapons - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling) - [b]culturally and religiously biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Parapsychology - [b]can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Politics - [b]culturally biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Pornography - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Poverty - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Rap Music - [b]culturally biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Religion - [b]culturally biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan) - [b]culturally and religiously biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Rock-and-Roll music - [b]culturally biased, can cause confusion and upset[/b]
Running away - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Sex - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Slavery - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Terrorism - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Television and video games (excessive use) - [b]culturally biased, normalizes bad habits, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters) - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Vermin (rats and roaches) - [b]?[/b]
Violence - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
War and bloodshed - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Weapons (guns, knives, etc.) - [b]can cause upset, can be a trigger[/b]
Witchcraft, sorcery, etc. - [b]culturally and religiously biased, can cause upset and confusion[/b]
[/quote]
[QUOTE=Sanius;35352069]why would there be a question regarding the solar system in math and english standardized tests?[/QUOTE]
why the fuck not
[editline]30th March 2012[/editline]
I get the rationale behind removing triggering words but
[quote]Evolution - can cause upset and confusion[/quote]
that is stupid as fuck
[editline]30th March 2012[/editline]
then again I've never taken an american standardized english or math test so I have no idea what's usually on them
[QUOTE=Turnips5;35358543]
then again I've never taken an american standardized english or math test so I have no idea what's usually on them[/QUOTE]
ideally not questions which belong on a standardized science test
fuck creationists dinosaurs are awesome
[QUOTE=Sanius;35358597]ideally not questions which belong on a standardized science test[/QUOTE]
hm okay
the weird thing about this list is that most of them are stuff you'd think would be avoided on a standardized paper anyway, like traumatic material, crime, sex, celebrities...
[B][I]FUCK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS[/I][/B]
[QUOTE=kaine123;35359894][B][I]FUCK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS[/I][/B][/QUOTE]
yeah fuck making testing environments more comfortable! everybody should grow a pair and get over the fact that they aren't the same as me!!
[QUOTE=kaine123;35359894][B][I]FUCK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS[/I][/B][/QUOTE]
no. "political correctness" has become a scare word for being a decent human fucking being.
I like how vermin just has "?" next to it
[QUOTE=Lambeth;35360015]I like how vermin just has "?" next to it[/QUOTE]
I couldn't imagine why vermin would upset or confuse anybody
[QUOTE=Sanius;35358510]you guys are too entrenched in your own cultural and socio-economical norms to see why this is a positive change. you have it in your mind that your life experiences and your set of morals and beliefs should apply to everybody on Earth.
testing environments should be as comfortable as possible, regardless of your cultural or religious beliefs and feelings. this has nothing to do with political correctness or fundamentalism, nor does it violate freedom of speech. the purpose of this proposal is to remove words which may cause students to become upset, uncomfortable or confused
NYC is the most ethnically diverse city in the US where 44.6% of the populace are white, 27.5% are hispanic, 25.1% are black, 11.8% are asian, and 16% are of other ethnicities, with immigrants making up 36% of the total population.
with this data in mind, it's easy to see why most of these words are up for consideration to be removed from use in standardized test questions.[/QUOTE]
this. there are a few strange words there, but mostly this is to create a nicer environment for people in education; who the fuck wants to have ideals shoved in their face when its a simple exam? faith and topical subjects should be the subject of debate.. but not where its totally pointless.
can we remove testing stuff from tests, tests make me feel uncomfortable
[QUOTE=Sanius;35360034]I couldn't imagine why vermin would upset or confuse anybody[/QUOTE]
if mentions of disease can upset someone, mentions of vermin can too
[QUOTE=Sanius;35360034]I couldn't imagine why vermin would upset or confuse anybody[/QUOTE]
Well they did cause the black death
[QUOTE=Drsalvador;35354579]holy fuck
is mankind REALLY that fucking stupid
i mean holy fuck[/QUOTE]
Well those that believe the literal interpretation of the Bible say that it was a worldwide flood that caused the fossil record to be how it is and prior to the flood dinosaurs roamed the earth as well as humans. They (young earth creation scientists) cite some side by side dinosaur human tracks in the fossil record and claim that they are the same age to back up their claims.
[QUOTE=Sanius;35358510]you guys are too entrenched in your own cultural and socio-economical norms to see why this is a positive change. you have it in your mind that your life experiences and your set of morals and beliefs should apply to everybody on Earth.
testing environments should be as comfortable as possible, regardless of your cultural or religious beliefs and feelings. this has nothing to do with political correctness or fundamentalism, nor does it violate freedom of speech. the purpose of this proposal is to remove words which may cause students to become upset, uncomfortable or confused
NYC is the most ethnically diverse city in the US where 44.6% of the populace are white, 27.5% are hispanic, 25.1% are black, 11.8% are asian, and 16% are of other ethnicities, with immigrants making up 36% of the total population.
with this data in mind, it's easy to see why most of these words are up for consideration to be removed from use in standardized test questions.[/QUOTE]
So basically, in order to make everything all sunshine and happiness, we have to strip the English language of all words that may or may not be perceived as negative? I can see why some of those words would be on the list, but they're taking it pretty far. Has anyone ever told a school in New York City that they felt "offended" because a test included a question about calculating the volume of water in Michelle's new 12'x12'x6' swimming pool? (in New York City, of all places) I don't have a problem with creating a more "friendly" environment. What I do have a problem with is when it becomes a matter of "x, oh, no you can't say that, it'll offend y" when in reality no one was ever offended by it.
[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;35360514]So basically, in order to make everything all sunshine and happiness, we have to strip the English language of all words that may or may not be perceived as negative? I can see why some of those words would be on the list, but they're taking it pretty far.[/QUOTE]
this isn't about pandering to over-protective parents or whatever your persecution complex makes you think. this is about acknowledging the fact that other cultures and beliefs exist and attempting to make standardized tests as comfortable and understandable as possible by removing culture, socio-economic, religion, and belief-dependent questions
[QUOTE=OvB;35351777]For fuck sake we have dinosaur bones. Even if you don't agree with evolution you can't argue whether or not fucking Dinosaurs existed.
triple auto-merge breaker.[/QUOTE]
Uhm, like, maybe like, aliens came from space a hundred years ago and like err, maybe, put them there, to like uhh, confuse us and fuck up our evolu- wait no i wasn't going to say evolution, that doesn't exist, obviously.
because people are hyper-sensitive pussies
[QUOTE=J!NX;35360618]because people are hyper-sensitive pussies[/QUOTE]
fuck this section is so terrible
[QUOTE=Sanius;35360574]this isn't about pandering to over-protective parents or whatever your persecution complex makes you think. this is about acknowledging the fact that other cultures and beliefs exist and attempting to make standardized tests as comfortable and understandable as possible by removing culture, socio-economic, religion, and belief-dependent questions[/QUOTE]
Who defines what "culture" is, and what words should be banned because they're "cultural?"
That's what I'm getting at. I don't have a problem with how they're trying to create a more "comfortable" environment. What I do have a problem with is how some random person gets to interpret which words constitute "culture" or "religion" based solely off of what at least one person might think.
[quote]"Dinosaurs" evoking unpleasant emotions? The New York Post speculated that the "dinosaurs" could "call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists.”
But what the tabloid failed to realize is that those "fundamentalists" who oppose evolution on religious grounds, believe wholeheartedly in dinosaurs.
Young Earth creationists, or Biblical creationists as they prefer to be called, often point to dinosaurs in making their arguments. They say dinosaurs and humans roamed Earth together, citing legends of dragons and say the fossil record shows the earth is 6,000 years old, though few paleontologists and geologists share this theory.
[b]At the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, the heart of the Young Earth Creationism movement, dinosaur models and exhibits fill the museum displays and gift shop.[/b][/quote]
oh yeah, that
[img]http://www.creationbygod.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DinosaurHistory1.jpg[/img]
i'm definitely no atheist, but you can't tell me that's not complete bullshit
[QUOTE=Sanius;35360643]fuck this section is so terrible[/QUOTE]
Good
I don't take that back
you can have religious and non-religious words equally you know, and still use them
[QUOTE=Sanius;35358510]you guys are too entrenched in your own cultural and socio-economical norms to see why this is a positive change. you have it in your mind that your life experiences and your set of morals and beliefs should apply to everybody on Earth.
testing environments should be as comfortable as possible, regardless of your cultural or religious beliefs and feelings. this has nothing to do with political correctness or fundamentalism, nor does it violate freedom of speech. the purpose of this proposal is to remove words which may cause students to become upset, uncomfortable or confused
NYC is the most ethnically diverse city in the US where 44.6% of the populace are white, 27.5% are hispanic, 25.1% are black, 11.8% are asian, and 16% are of other ethnicities, with immigrants making up 36% of the total population.
with this data in mind, it's easy to see why most of these words are up for consideration to be removed from use in standardized test questions.[/QUOTE]
ignoring confusion is not what education is for. confusion seeks to destroy itself, not put it in a box and ignore it.
non-action is still action.
[del]also you're not being fair. if kids from other cultures are to be barred from seeing the word "evolution" and "birthday", then everyone else should be barred from seeing "bah mitzvah" and "divali". if your goal is to enhance cultural understanding (a dubious goal, to be sure), then[/del] barring the use of words is like shooting off your own foot with a relativistic mass accelerator.
I dunno about you guys, but Christmas and Dinosaurs has me seething with rage.
[QUOTE=Disgruntled;35351770]Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays? That's rather strange.[/QUOTE]
They don't celebrate anything. At all.
[QUOTE=Sanius;35358510]"can be a trigger" repeated numerous times[/QUOTE]
What the fuck does that even mean? Trigger for [b]what[/b]? Obviously not for being upset, since it's right alongside "can cause upset" most of the time.
This is the second time this week where a story has reminded me of the principal on Mission Hill when she reminded Andy that "this kind of language is not allowed in an inner-city school".
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