"The
left wants schools to teach an idealized vision of the future," says Diane
Ravitch, author of The Language Police: How
Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (Knopf, 2003).
"The right wants schools to teach an idealized vision of the past."
THINGS TO AVOID
Here
is a list of banned words and stereotypes that are used as guidelines by
writers, editors and illustrators while preparing textbooks and tests for
students:
*blind leading the blind: banned as handicapism
*busybody: banned as sexist, demeaning to older women
*courageous: banned as patronizing when referring to a person with disabilities
*egghead: banned as offensive, replace with "intellectual"
*fairy: banned because it suggests homosexuality, replace with "elf"
*Founding Fathers: banned as sexist, replace with "the Founders" or
"the Framers"
*jungle: banned, replace with "rain forest"
*mentally ill: banned as offensive, replace with "person with a mental or
emotional disability"
*one-man band: banned as sexist, replace with "one-person
performance"
*polo: banned as elitist
*senile: banned as demeaning to older people
*senior citizen: banned as demeaning to older people
*snowman: banned, replace with "snow person"
*tomboy: banned as sexist
Here are some images that are to be avoided:
*women as more nurturing than men
*men as active problem solvers
*men playing with sports or working with tools
*girls as peaceful, emotional and warm
*pioneer woman riding in covered wagon while man walks
*African Americans who are baggage handlers
*Native Americans with long hair, braids, headbands
*Asian Americans as very intelligent, excellent scholars
*Hispanics who are warm, expressive and emotional
*older people who have a twinkle in their eyes
Source: Diane Ravitch, author of The
Language Police, How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
