School board bans 'gun' from spelling tests

[eldermike]

How about the names of guns?
Should we ban these also?
Colt (sorry horse folks. it has to go)
Winchester (need to change some maps)
Smith and Wesson (the salad oil people will hate this also)
Taurus (one of the Big 3 is not going to like this)
and:
Magnum
semi-auto
revolver
full-auto
All have to go......out with them all!
Bad, bad, bad words.

People have lost the anchor, they are drifting in a world inside their heads.

 

[cenimo]

ocean

but guns are violent, they are used in most violent crimes.

and when used in self defense and saving someone's life, that is "vulgar"?

Hardly. 

  

 

I agree with this decision. Children shouldn't be learning vulgar or violent words like "gun" in schools. Guns are weapons of murder. Should "murder" be on the spelling test too? How about rape?

So when one of these kids is walking down the street and someone says, "I've got a gun", they, never having been exposed to "violent" words, will not know what it is and maybe get blown away because some save-the-world- pie-in-the-sky- dreamer at some school wanted to immerse these kids in their fantasy world where there's no violent words. 

Absolutely pathetic. 

 

[WayneH]

Bear.......

Once a Marine - Always a Marine...

Semper Fi


Oh - checked into the length of the PC path is 6 miles 423 feet 5 inches take care.......

 

[Starscream]

Yesterday at 11:26 PM Hector Medina said this in Post #4

Sounds like left-liberals!

ACLU is American Communist Lawyers Union

In Christ,

Hector

Too me is sounds like another paranoid Christian jumping the 'gun'.

I don't see the work "Canadian" in ACLU.

 

[geocajun]

Today at 10:16 AM ocean said this in Post #15 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=650822#post650822)

The word itself isn't vulgar or violent, but guns are violent, they are used in most violent crimes.

so is silverware (knifes, spoons, forks), should we ban the use of that word(s) in school?
murder and rape are intrinsically wrong, where 'guns' are not.

 

[geocajun]

Today at 11:45 AM TheBear said this in Post #17 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=650940#post650940)

Good Lord!!! How far down this politically correct path are we to go before we wake up?!?!

Amen Brother!

Did you know that Merriam Webster defined
"Politically Correct" ?
www.m-w.com

Main Entry: politically correct
Function: adjective
Date: 1936
: conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated

 

[wildernesse]

The banning of the word is silly, words of themselves do not contribute to violence. Violent use of words is wrong (bullying) and violence in general, but this is silly. I don't think that 1st graders need to understand the concept behind rape or how to spell it--but I do think that "war" and "hate" and "knife" (that's a tough one) are concepts and words that should be part of a child's vocab--and "gun". Spelling is part of the entire language-learning process--and I think kids need to learn about guns and read about guns. Like don't touch a gun, guns can hurt people, policemen have guns to protect us, guns don't belong in school, etc.

I have to say that I agree with the adage, Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Guns are dangerous, yes--and a really bad combo is hot-headed, irresponsible, and immature people and a deadly weapon. I think that we should limit guns from getting in the hands of those people--but as someone who grew up with guns, I don't know of anyone being shot or otherwise hurt with any of the ones in our house.

--tibac

--tibac

 

[Brimshack]

I love it when a master narrative jumps the tracks.

1) This was in Canada.

2) I may have missed something, but I don't see that the ACLU is involved at all.

3) It's a grade school. The scope of accepted topics and approaches is severely restricted, and not just from liberal points of view. You can debate whether or not this particular word really did deserve to get nixed from the lesson plan, but that certainly doesn't mean this is part of some general PC trend, and there is no sense in which this implicates freedom of the press. Parents voice concerns over the content of the children's schoolwork on a regular basis; hardly anything new or unusual there.

But of course there's no sense in letting the facts stand in the way of a good yarn. The standard PC-bashing story here already has lots of momentum, so who cares if that completely distorts the context of the original conflict.

 

[kern]

Why is "gun" on a spelling test anyway? Is that really a word that kids have to study to know how to spell? It seems purely phonetic to me, as much as any English word can be said to have a phonetic spelling.

-Chris

 

[geocajun]

Today at 09:31 PM Brimshack said this in Post #28 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=652089#post652089)

2) I may have missed something, but I don't see that the ACLU is involved at all.

I meantioned the ACLU in my post because it flows quite nicely with the "gun" article in that "someone whines to the school about something offensive to someone and the school folds"
the ACLU has been on a mission to sanitize American schools of any reference to Jesus.

 

[Brimshack]

I understand that Geocajun, but I see two problems with this:

1) Subsequent posters simply picked up where you left off and assumed that the ACLU was throrughly involved in this issue to begin with. That is how a lot of PC-bashing works; it's essentually urban myth, and serves only to distort the real issues. Whether this or any other policy we can debate is legitimate, the rhetoric of PC-bashing servs only to load the issue down with extra baggage, and keep people from looking at the specifics of the case at hand.

2) Mention of religious topics in the schools is a separate issue. It has nothing to do with whether or not 'gun' is an appropriate topic in a grade school spelling test. If you wish to discuss proper interpretation of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, then I feel quite certain we can have a good knock down drag out fight over that alone. But it serves no purpose to skew that debate or this one by playing a shell game between these two issues. One debate at a time please.

 

[waterwizard]

You are right, Brimshack, but now that it's in the news, it'll be just a matter of time before some judge in California will get wind of it and declare the word "gun" unacceptable in their schools. 

 

[Gabriel]

I totally agree with this decision. I mean, GUN? Come on, how is that a challenge? I say we drop it in favor of "firearm", "weapon", or better, "tool". Or perhaps, "Ammendment", "right", "protection", or "law-abiding".

 

[waterwizard]

Would that mean that Gunnysgt would have to change his name to weaponysgt?

 

[ocean]

It's not the word itself that is bad, it's the idea behind it. Guns are used in most murders, armed robberies, rapes, and wars. Guns are designed to kill people. Guns are not protection, they are murder weapons.

I don't think children should learn about guns or violence of any kind.

 

[kern]

Would there really be any of those students who didn't already know the word "gun" before it appeared on this spelling test? It's a pretty basic word, especially if the kids play video games or watch movies or TV (even kids' shows have guns in them sometimes). This seems like such a pointless debate to me.

-Chris

 

[wildernesse]

You have to learn about violence to understand why it is bad. You have to teach a child about guns before you can teach a child how to be safe and responsible around a gun and why they should not touch them.

ocean, your idea is the same idea behind those who want to limit sex education because if you don't teach about it, then people won't do it. In both situations it is wrong.

I also don't understand the Jesus=gun parallel. Banning guns leads to banning God? What gives?

--tibac

 

[Gunny]

14th February 2003 at 08:28 AM waterwizard said this in Post #34 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=652692#post652692)

Would that mean that Gunnysgt would have to change his name to weaponysgt?

Nah, Gunnysgt (GySgt) will always be gunnysgt.

Once a Marine Always a Marine. Oohrah!!!