Menifee Schools Ban Dictionary, Pull Book from Shelves

hmm wonder why the kid looked up oral sex........what other words did he look up and where had he heard that word...methinks some sex ed is warrented here by the parents then it woyuldnt be a problem

Well, they do use many dirty words> )

And the second step is firing whichever 'official' said, "We don't need parents setting policy."

BTW, my comment (above) is not meant to imply that the Dictionary should be banned.

Just to let everyone know, it wasn't just "oral sex" that the parent complained about. There were slang sexual terms like (blow job, c--t, f'd up). These have no business in the dictionary. This is not sensorship, it is common sense. Whether anyone wants to admit it there is still right and wrong. Webster was wrong by putting these in there.

Adolph Hitler would be proud.

@ M Bell:If the words exist, they belong in the dictionary, appropriately marked as slang.Language is a dynamic medium. It has no right or wrong.A word on a page is not actually harmful to a child. The Idea that a word (essentially a sequence of letters) can be offensive independently of its meaning is one of the most asinine facets to our society.What is supposedly harmful is the idea encapsulated by that word. However, this is mostly due to the parents sensibilities. Even if the material was fairly explicit, the child would be unlikely to understand the meaning with prior background in the subject. At that point, the "harm" is already done.In parting, in what way, exactly, does the knowledge harm this child? In truth, it is the parents indoctrinated version of what is "proper" that is driving their antics.

Aren't they going to gather all of the dictionaries and any book containing the words "Oral" and "Sex" (not necessarily together) and burn them?Just another case of the religious reich going into hysterics over trivia that offends their warped sense of values.Most of the problems of the world are, and always have been, caused by religion.  Mankind will never truly be free until the black yoke of religion is lifted by the clear light of facts and reason.

i think this might be the biggest load of bullshit i have ever seen. you cant BAN websters from a SCHOOL!

I've got two words for the parent who complained...Home School! If you don't like the way the public schools are educating your child..then don't put them in a public school.No one is forcing you to enroll your child into the public school system.

I applaud these fine school officials for shielding our impressionable young people from the offensive words of the world. How are they now going to correct the damage that has been done to this poor young mind by reading these horrifyingly explicit words? Now that these offensive words have been incorporated into his vocabulary, who knows where it will end? Why he might look up other words just as offensive. Words such as rape, pillage, torture, mass murder, genital mutilation, child slavery...I could go on and on. Then he will no doubt find himself wanting to engage in sexual activity, rapine, or God only know what all. Our school officials simply MUST protect our children from exposure to these horrifying but real hazards. But how to do so? Banning this one dictionary surely won't be enough. Ban computers, encyclopedias, and all other dictionaries, too, as they will all contain offensive words. Even that won't do it. I think that it behooves our school system to take the only practical approach to protecting our young people from such horrors: when they first arrive at school in kindergarten, they should have their eyes gouged out and their eardrums punctured. Then, and ONLY then, can we be assured that they will be protected and never have to hear or read immoral or offensive words. I know that some may view that as a rather extreme approach, but it really IS the only effective method, don't you agree?

Hey, lets burn these books.No seriously, USA has to learn how to handle problems with those idiots because every time one of these stories gets to the internet, people all over the world more and more think america consists only of dumbasses and fundies.  Intelligent people of USA please stand up against bullshit like this and give the world some hope.Jens from GermanyPS: we started to ban and burn books for other reasons some time ago, it didn't end well.

stupid.