50 Banned Words In NYC School Tests

I came across this link via a friends page on Facebook and it made me want to both laugh and cry (mostly it inspired rage in me). It is an article about 50 words that are banned from being used in NYC school testing. And it is a ridiculous list. In my sincere opinion that is. I have found the full list here and have pasted them below for your reading pleasure.

The idea seems to be that these words may be controversial, may stir up difficult emotions in children, or may be prejudice against or towards certain groups of people. I understand the need for sensitivity in education, as in life. I want to live in a world of equality and respect (maybe someday we'll get there) and I believe schools have a large part to play in achieving that. Not sole responsibility, but a large part of it. School education, for me, should be about more that learning to read, write and count. Life needs more than that from us all.

So surely the best thing to do with a sensitive topic such as abuse or divorce is to face it. Talk about it and support those children effected by it. Not ignore it and leave kids even more isolated and vulnerable.

Here are the words... read em and weep!

• Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)
• Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs
• Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)
• Bodily functions
• Cancer (and other diseases)
• Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)
• Celebrities
• Children dealing with serious issues
• Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)
• Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)
• Crime
• Death and disease
• Divorce
• Evolution
• Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes
• Gambling involving money
• Halloween
• Homelessness
• Homes with swimming pools
• Hunting
• Junk food
• In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge
• Loss of employment
• Nuclear weapons
• Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)
• Parapsychology
• Politics
• Pornography
• Poverty
• Rap Music
• Religion
• Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)
• Rock-and-Roll music
• Running away
• Sex
• Slavery
• Terrorism
• Television and video games (excessive use)
• Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)
• Vermin (rats and roaches)
• Violence
• War and bloodshed
• Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)
• Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

Some of the words on the list just make me laugh. They're not allowed to talk about television? Or vermin? According to this list a lot of what should be taught in schools now cannot be. History for example... no talking about slavery. Biology... OK but don't talk about vermin, death, disease, evolution or cancer. Religious Studies/ Religious Education/ Religious & Moral Education (or whatever your school calls it)... cannot exist as not allowed to talk about religion, religious holidays, paganism, witchcraft/ sorcery etc. Social Studies and Current Affairs are also off the curriculum... no talking about terrorism, crime, homelessness, unemployment, politics (wtf?), war, violence, animal shelters etc etc etc. 

OMG! I mean really?? It seems like all that's left is sport and celeb gossip but oh wait... they are out too!

MENTAL!!!!

I would never allow my child to be educated in a school that followed this insane thinking. Children need to be protected, but pretending that the less pleasant things in life do not exist will only end with a whole generation of people completely unable to cope with life. We already have enough problems of our own doing without that as well.

End of rant...

*Santa Maria*

Charity Race Night/Disco for Banjana Nursery School, Gambia

A girl I went to school with (Samantha) is heavily involved in a project in the Gambia and they are holding a fundraising Race Night and Disco in Edinburgh tonight to raise funds to provide water to the village and school.

Event details and charity info are all below and I would strongly encourage anyone that can make it to please go along and support a great cause. If you cannot make it tonight please show your support by checking the facebook profile and page for the organisation and by following them on twitter. Even if you cannot make it for the whole event why not go along before your other evening plans and kick start a great night by supporting a fantastic event. It will mean literally the world to the people this organisation is aimed at helping.

Event:

Charity Race Night/Disco

Forrester Rugby Club

Broomhouse Road

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

19.00 - late

Tickets: £7 incl buffet (drinks v cheap as is a Rugby Club)

Hi Everyone,

Having another race night to raise money for the School in Gambia. Some of you will know that the building of the Borehole has started but we need more money for taps to be placed across the village. This will save the women of the village so much time and effort as they will need not carry it from one tap.

All the extra money will go towards building a new school !!!!!!!!!!!! Whoooooo Hoooooo

Please come along and support this event or spread the word. Tickets are £7.00 and include a buffet, as it is in the Rugby club drink is cheap so well worth it.

Thank You
xxx

Charity:

Banjana Nursey School, The Gambia:

Charity Number: SC040489, EH15 2AF Edinburgh, United Kingdom

We are a registered charity. The school opened in November 2004 and we have 61 children (50% boys, 50% girls) and 3 teachers. It is the first nursery school in the entire region. We have a small well and a kitchen so the children get fed every day.

From Samantha...

Q: How did you get involved in the project?

A: My friend opened up the 1st nursery there 6 years ago, when I was working at Dalmeny we did a wee bit of fundraising & I have kept on working for the project. Just had a borehole built with solar panells to allow the village to grow own veg which they can sell & make an income. The nursery provides education for 60 children we pay for uniforms, 1 meal a day & pay the staff & have sent them to college

REVOLUTION

As UK students continue to protest the planned rise in the cost of further education and cuts to primary and secondary education, one protester says it how it is on Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.

You can smell the revolution in the air!

Mental Freedom and Mindfulness

Looking at the AIM and its members may overwhelm people no matter what religion, race, creed or political affiliation. The members are dedicated and inspired. Each one of us came from our own respective parts of the globe and picked up good and bad habits along the way. Whether we were prosecuted by our families and chased out of our homelands due to religion, spent decades as government slaves in the prison system, spent 16 hours a day for weeks in silence in meditation, sabotaged KKK rallies in our youth, or studied a lifetimes worth of documents on corrupt political systems of the world and achieved high levels of education, we have converged under one banner.

Our mission isn't to bond by exclusion the way many organized religions have gained followers. Its not about a drive to be part of something exclusive. The only thing we have realized is that we are ALL part of something exclusive on this rock which is being a human and surprisingly enough, this understanding is what separates our reality as a group from the realities of others. By understanding this connection in our waking consciousness we know that we can never be free as a species unless all of us are free. Freedom is a state of mind as we have seen from many of the great writers and leaders of our time. They were forced to endure and found peace when they were physically confined. You can cage the physical person but you cannot cage their ideas and thoughts. We see this in the words of Nelson Mandela and Mumia. The ideas start small and then they expand like a wildfire. Mental emancipation is slowly spreading but the contraints run deep as they are almost embedded in our DNA.

The old corrupt thought of entitlement based on name or family lineage, justice based on commerce, or superiority based on race, gender or religion are the instruments used for centuries to create the mental prison that has alienated us from ourselves as we are separated in our mental cells. We cannot be mentally free while these institutions are in place because they perpetuate ego and economic cannibalism. Those in power have actually convinced us, and aided us in stealing from each other as long as we give them a cut. Being trapped in these mental cells we have learned to cut each others throats for our own piece of a cake that those who have manipulated us have taught us to want. By living in these mental cells we have had no choice but to look at ourselves separately because we feel thats what our "purpose" is. These concepts of differences are fueled by capitalism, world governments, religious nationalism, consumerism, sexism and racism.

The point is not for every person to drop everything they're doing and dedicate their lives the way members of the AIM have, the point is to dedicate our lives to one other. The systems that seem to be concreted into turning us against each other so we are easily manipulated will not be taken down by our "right to bare arms" against them. It will be taken down by every day actions of every person under its rule. Propping up your fellow human is the antithesis of these driving forces. If someone feels helpless against defending women's rights against Sharia law, a time will come when a person will be ready and the illusion of helplessness will subside. Until then, theres people who need your help in your own community and if you're one of those people that needs the help, we will help you and theres still always something to give.

The AIM is not only about helping all our brothers and sisters, it is about educating to help bring others out of their mental incarcerations so that they to can have a healthy mind to combat the manipulators. No one has to be part of any group to help a child to care for another. Theres always something you can do, no matter how small. Its the volition behind it that spreads.

To all the AIM members, we need to lead by example. Communication is key, we must hold a high standard because if we are separate, then we can never unify others. Up the ante people.

-VNON