Oral sex' definition prompts dictionary ban in US schools

[cali]

A parent's complaint over a 'sexually graphic' definition has seen dictionaries removed from southern Californian schools

Dictionaries have been removed from classrooms in southern California schools after a parent complained about a child reading the definition for "oral sex".

Merriam Webster's 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the "sexually graphic" entry is "just not age appropriate", according to the area's local paper.

The dictionary's online definition of the term is "oral stimulation of the genitals". "It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature," district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the paper.

While some parents have praised the move – " a prestigious dictionary that's used in the Riverside County spelling bee, but I also imagine there are words in there of concern," said Randy Freeman – others have raised concerns. "It is not such a bad thing for a kid to have the wherewithal to go and look up a word he may have even heard on the playground," father Jason Rogers told local press. "You have to draw the line somewhere. What are they going to do next, pull encyclopaedias because they list parts of the human anatomy like the penis and vagina?"

A panel is now reviewing whether the Menifee ban will be made permanent. The Merriam Webster dictionary joins an illustrious set of books that have been banned or challenged in the US, including Nobel prize winner Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, which last year was suspended from and then reinstated to the curriculum at a Michigan school after complaints from parents about its coverage of graphic sex and violence, and titles by Khaled Hosseini and Philip Pullman, included in the American Library Association's list of books that inspired most complaints last year.


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/25/oral-sex-di...

[SpiralHawk]

1. I suppose they won't be able to define 'Republicon Diaper Sex with Hookers' either

Not that any Americans really want to know what the 'Family Values' Republicon Hypocrites are up to in their 'Playpens of Iniquity.'

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. i tried to look up

'fuck'...i had been hearing this word over and over and had no idea how it related to damn, hell and shit...but i knew it was a good one cause only the older guys really used it!

sP

[FunkyLeprechaun]

21. I looked up the word shit in the dictionary in 3rd grade

Imagine my surprise it was there! Third grade was 20 years ago. We also watched a video of a birth as well and looked at diagrams of the human anatomy. I also read Stephen King's Misery in 4th Grade and my teacher was concerned I was reading that but decided to forgo it because of my high reading levels.

[damyank913]

25. I shoulda listened when they warned me that a dictionary...

...was a "threshold drug" for porn. Now I've graduated to the hard stuff-the bible...

[undeterred]

33. I looked up the word asset in 3rd grade.

My teacher wrote on my report card that I was an "asset" to the class and I was afraid it meant I was a female donkey.

[asdjrocky]

2. When I first learned to use a dictionary, the first word I looked up was vagina.

It's true.

[shadowknows69]

7. You're not alone my friend. I'm sure there's someone else that did.

Not me of course.

[w8liftinglady]

15. lol..so did my friends and I-well-penis,actually.

[asdjrocky]

36. If I remember correctly, there was a picture for brazier.

That dove us wild.

Is it any surprise, then, when our kids are first alone with a computer the first thing they google is sex?

There is nothing new under the sun.

[Skidmore]

3. I'm chuckling because it

recalls memories of a group of young middle school girls who spent a study hall looking for naughty words in the big dictionary in the school library. The grammar teacher mentioned in class how proud she was that we had all gotten the dictionary homework done so quickly.

[LWolf]

4. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Botany]

6. Ever wonder why the U.S. has such a high rate of teen pregnancy and STDs?

Why do they let the stupid people make the rules?

And if you move the letters around in a history book it will spell out bin Laden
gets his terrorists from the P.T.A..

[hobbit709]

8. The book banners now want to ban dictionaries

Wait until they go after encyclopedias.
The know-nothings are amazing in their attitude of pretending if it doesn't exist, they won't have to deal with it.

[CBGLuthier]

9. We used to go to the library

find the unabridged and giggle at the words we found.

Words in there of concern the man said.

Words of concern.

Liberty?

Freedom?

Censorship?

Are these words of concern?

[-..__...]

10. So, I guess that means...

Blumpkin, Dirty Sanchez and Cleveland Steamer are frowned upon too (feel free to add more)?

[CoffeeCat]

14. I have no idea what any of those...

...things mean!

I will go look them up now.

Edited to add: OH MY STARS!

[w8liftinglady]

17. I was going to warn you-too late!

[asdjrocky]

39. Bet you're sorry you did that.

[w8liftinglady]

16. lol...I had to have my teenager define those for me..

[Lance_Boyle]

32. Don't forget the Cosby Sweater. n/t

[asdjrocky]

40. And the Strawberry Shortcake...

or the Louie Armstrong...

[meegbear]

11. Teh Stupid! It burns!

[seabeyond]

12. those horrible, puritan red states..... oh wait. calif? and southern calif at that.

ya know....

[L0oniX]

13. I guess they will have to take out Google too. pffft

[Orsino]

18. America is ingenious...

...when it comes to finding excuses not to educate children.

[Odin2005]

19. Good god, that is so stupid.

[nuxvomica]

20. It sounds like these folks don't understand the word "graphic"

If only there were some facility for providing them with the definition, perhaps in book form.

[LiberalFighter]

22. Parents need to grow up.

[LiberalFighter]

23. Of course, they need to know the correct spelling of penis.

What happens if they find out that it what they call someone that plays a piano?

[Mythbuster]

24. Reminds me of a joke...

One night, 7 year old Suzy was walking past her parent's room to go to the bathroom. As she passed her parents room, she saw her dad on top of her mom in bed in a very heated moment. The next morning, she asked her mom, "what was dad doing on top of you in bed last night?" Her mom assured her that all was normal and simply that "That's where baby brothers and sisters come from." That night as Suzy once again walked to the bathroom, she peeked in and saw her mom with her head between her dad's legs performing "the act". The next morning, she says to her mother, last night, you had dad's thingy in your mouth... what was happening? The child's mother assured everything was ok and completely normal and simply explained "Suzy... that's where diamonds come from."

[damyank913]

27. Too Funny.

[w8liftinglady]

34. true story ..when I was 7 or 8..

I walked in on my parents "doing it"..I was afraid my dad was hurting my mom...she reassured me that it's what mommies and daddies do when they love each other...and went on to try to explain how it happens using age appropriate terms..or so she thought.I replied "Oh,you mean fucking"(I grew up on military bases.)I still remember the look on her face as she attempted to maintain composure and not laugh.

[Jennicut]

26. Ahh! It will burn the eyes if the children! Burn them!

I had a rather interesting conversation with my 5 year old daughter the other night about where babies come from...which led to her asking what boys have and what girls have. I told her and I think she was not traumatized. Geez, the world is going to hell.

[liberal_at_heart]

28. someone needs to tell kids what it is

Most of them think that oral sex is not sex because there is no penetration. So, now not only do they not get the correct information from their parents. They can't even read the correct definition of it in a dictionary? Come on. Information is knowledge. Lack of information is ingorance.

[jmowreader]

29. Banned Books Week starts September 25 this year

The American Library Association urges all Americans to celebrate this august event by reading a banned book...but I don't think the dictionary is what they had in mind.

War story time: The Army issues two dictionaries--yes, correctly spelled words are important even in that business. One of them (a Webster's, IIRC) has a red cover, the other has a blue one. I had written a report with a word that started with the letters "fu" in it--"fuchsia" or something. I have NO recollection of why I would put the word "fuchsia" in a report, but it was in there. Anyway, we'll say it's fuchsia--it could have been furnace or fundamentalist; all I remember is the first two letters were "fu." "Jim, look up that word in the dictionary to make sure it's spelled right." I picked up the red dictionary and turned to the "fu" page..."fuchsia...yeah, it's spelled right...fuchsin...you know fuck is in here?" Next thing you know we're sitting there going through the fucking dictionary trying to find all the obscenities, of which there were most of them. (According to the red army dictionary, "motherfucker" is "a contemptible person" and "cocksucker" has two meanings: a contemptible person, and "one who performs fellatio.") It's good to have a complete dictionary.

[jmm]

Anybody who looks up oral sex already knows what it means.

As long as the dictionary doesn't include pictures and technique advice the parents need to relax. Not that this isn't the first time people have wasted an opportunity to talk to their curious children...

[Nye Bevan]

30. Schoolchildren looking up *naughty words* in the *dictionary*?

Oh my God! Whoever heard of such a thing?

But seriously wouldn't most parents prefer that their children see the "dictionary definitions" of this kind of word as well as the playground definitions?

[mogster]

31. Ridiculous, look at the wiki

"Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat."

So, they can go online and find exactly the same or more detailed description. The worst thing is, the wiki's are also ridiculous. Look at the graphics - not one photo, only drawings, most from the stone age and up to the fifteenth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_sex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunnilingus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellatio

What?
Where did liberalism go? We're adhering to media, encyclopedias, that is edited by strongly religious people despite the fact that the average citizen is much more liberal. They have had their shot at world power but we still have to live with them even though liberalism won last november.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

35. Hey there whippersnappers!!

When I was in school in the 1960s, dictionaries did NOT have the dirty words in them.

So I was clueless.

[w8liftinglady]

37. well-that depends on your definition of "dirty words"..I went to school in the 60's,too.

we'd find words like"cream" and "jerk" and "suck"...and laugh and laugh.

[Toasterlad]

38. Stupid, Stupid Country.

[agentS]

41. Ironic, isn't it?

The nation with Freedom of the press is in the constitution is banning the dictionary.
It don't get much more dumber than that.

[Javaman]

42. Well, I think teh stupids look at it this way...

if they burn the dictionary, they are in essence, burning all books. LOL

johnny: How do you spell "atmosphere"

moron mom: go look it...wait!!! you're burn your eyes out!!!