Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Dictionary!?!?!?!?!
How on earth could someone justify banning the dictionary??? The dictionary is such a wonderful resource. When one editon has one or two words you don't think have appropriate definition, you cN't just ban that edition. What are the odds that that definition will even be looked at? If a dictionary has a word you don't approve of, it probably has 171,000 words that you are fine with your kids knowing. Everyone should have access to a resource like The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which has been banned for it's definition of oral sex. It's a dictionary!!! Do you think it's fair to ban a dictionary?
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I think the logic of the people wanting to restrict access to dictionaries with definitions of sexual acts is that they want parents to control when their children learn about them. While I understand wanting to protect children from information they may not be ready to deal with, I observed a fifth grade "Growing and Changing" unit last year where there were a number of questions about oral sex as well as being present in a school library when a fourth grade student took it upon themselves to explain an explicit act that is probably not in the dictionary, but is commonly referred to online and in some R-rated movies, before I interrupted them with a polite warning that it was not an appropriate conversational topic for the library.
ReplyDeleteMy personal position is to provide age-appropriate information and openly answer any questions my daughter has, so I've purchased and read Robie Harris's series It's Not the Stork, It's So Amazing, and It's Perfectly Normal with her as each fit her needs. She also has access to my copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves.