Issue Date: 2/8/10
Riverside school goes too far in banning dictionary
By Mike Garza
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A student at Oak Meadows Elementary School stumbled upon the definition which reads "oral stimulation of the genitals." Ironically, this specific dictionary was placed in fourth and fifth grade classrooms so advanced students could look up words they could not find in student dictionaries.
It's quite strange how a book made for the sole purpose of defining words in our language is considered inappropriate. The dictionary is one of the few books that has no bias and shows no discrimination; it is a pure source of information, despite having words that some may find impure. The book is not glorifying or promoting sexual behavior, it's simply saying what it means.
Scanning the dictionary for dirty words is hardly a new fad. When I was a young boy I remember laughing while looking up words such as breasts and penis. In order to do this though, I had prior knowledge of the terms; the dictionary was not my original source. Let's not forget that most sexual education courses begin around the fifth grade level. It is counter intuitive to ban a book which defines certain words instead of a book that is the source of such words. What it all comes down to is simple: can fourth and fifth graders even comprehend the meaning behind oral stimulation?
Fellatio and cunnilingus are far more specific terms used to describe oral sex and have been in dictionaries for much longer. Maybe it's only a matter of time until a student is looking up the word "cunning" and finds a surprise instead.
The Menifee Union School District responded quite quickly to the complaint of one parent. Yes, the complaint from one parent cast doubt on the teaching materials that could affect around 9,000 students. Imagine if every parent called the district and gave his or her two cents about what is inappropriate. It would be complete mayhem. The idea of possibly corrupting our youth served as a good accelerant in decision making.
A committee of parents, teachers and administrators put together to tackle this dilemma decided the book's fate rather quickly.
They must have concluded that sheltering our children from such important and essential books as a dictionary was not necessary, because the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Tenth Edition Dictionary is going back in classrooms.
To accommodate all sides (or possibly the side of that one parent), they are putting a second dictionary geared toward students in every classroom. It's comforting to know that our tax dollars are being well invested during California's school budget crisis.
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