To: "'trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com'" 
From: Jason Patten 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

I understand not wanting to offend students, but isn't this taking it Too
far?  What if you had to be PC in your fan-fic?

and
Is your trek PC?


--Jason



July 10, 2003
Textbook 'Language Police' Busted
By Stuart Shepard, correspondent
Book exposes politically correct agenda of school texts. If you examine the
politically correct world inside your children's textbooks, you might
wonder if they're even published on our planet. Education experts are
buzzing about a new compilation of what special interest groups want kept
out of textbooks. The new book, called "The Language Police,"
lists hundreds of items that one group or another has said do not belong in
textbooks. Among the recommendations are that authors should avoid
portraying mothers comforting children or giving sympathy, as well as men
playing sports or working with tools. Banned outright are words like
"biddy," "bookworm" and - no surprise
- "God."
Krista Kafer, education analyst with The Heritage Foundation, is disgusted
by the push to change textbooks.
"When it comes down to saying that we have to use the word
'snowperson' as opposed to 'snowman,' or going in and editing out original
texts, changing literature to suit the times, that is truly
offensive," Kafer said. She added that instead of trying to offend no
one, texts should use such language to instruct.
"Some of (Mark Twain's) writings are full of terms that we would not
use now, for good reason," Kafer said. "But it seems to me that
rather than edit the text, we would want to use this as a teachable
moment." Other words on the outs are "polo" and
"yacht" because they are considered too elitist. Words like
"cake" and "gravy" shouldn't be used because they
encourage bad nutrition. You can't even say "sissy" because it's
too demeaning.
Said Kristina Twitty, with the Eagle Forum: "It's like saying that you
have the right not to have your feelings hurt." She added that this
reasoning leads to the ultimate irony: "We've basically eliminated
diversity for the sake of diversity." But you probably won't be
reading that in a textbook. Experts that were interviewed say parents
should get involved in the textbook selection process.


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