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| At Lombardy School, you can spell gun |
| 2003-02-16 |
| Grade 1 students at Lombardy Public School near Smiths Falls will be able to learn to spell the word "gun," after school officials reversed a decision to ban the word from the class's curriculum. Really? That's encouraging. What caliber? The word was briefly removed from the Grade 1 spelling list following a complaint by a student's parents. "Gun? Ewww! Ucky! Replace it with something else, immediately." "At the end of the day, the word 'gun' is as permissible and relevant as any other short-vowel word," spokesman Terry Simzer stated yesterday on the Upper Canada District School Board Web site. "But not 'gat.' We draw the line at 'gat.'" In fact, Gino Giannandrea, director of the school board, announced yesterday that the word "gun" can even be used in Lombardy's Grade 1 class, subject to the discretion of the teacher and principal. If a parent objects to a particular word on his or her child's spelling test, the teacher will have discretion to remove it from that child's test. But the rest of the class can still be tested on the spelling of the word. How about "heater"? "Rosco"? "Piece"? Are they okay? Or do you need permission for them, too? This arrangement satisfies Amanda Sousa, the parent who first Ummm... Maybe because they exist? Even if they were all banned and dumped in the ocean, and their owners all executed by the ostentatiously virtuous, the word would still exist. Ask any pterodactyl. She expressed her concerns in a letter to the teacher. But when Chloe came home later in the week with the same list, this time including pictures beside each word, she felt her message had not been conveyed and phoned the principal. "You ain't takin' the hint, are you, Bozo? Don't make me come down there — with my lawyer!" The word was removed from the spelling list of the Grade 1 class until Mr. Giannandrea's decision yesterday. That thing, running from the back of his head to his heinie — it looks like... it looks like... my Gawd! It's a backbone! Huzzah! "If other parents don't object to the word and their children are tested on it, that's fair," Mrs. Sousa said. "But I still think there's no need to have a picture of a gun." "They're ucky, you know." "You said that." Mrs. Sousa said she had no regrets about raising the issue, but has been dismayed by public reaction. In letters to the editor, on Web sites, and on radio talk shows, response has been vituperative and malicious, she said. If you don't like being called stupid, maybe you should consider moving to the other half of the bell curve... "I've been called a bad mother, a horrible person. "... a nitwit, a crank, a dumbell, an officious twit..." "People have been telling Chloe that her mother did a bad thing. One person even said, on a Web site, 'If she doesn't want her daughter to see a gun, I'll show her a gun.' Is that a threat?" I dunno. I only called you a nitwit. Her point is probably shared by many people, says Mrs. Sousa, who studied early childhood education at Queen's University. "Have you ever seen a child's book titled, A is for Apple, G is for Gun? Have you heard the word on Sesame Street? I don't think so, but that's because many parents feel about guns the way I do." Except for that episode when Bert came home early and found Ernie in the sack with Grover. That was pretty bloody. They shouldn't have aired that... Many commentaries have suggested she wanted the word "gun" to be banned from life, she says. "But that's ludicrous. I'd have to be blind and naive to want that. My daughter will learn the word — I just don't want her having spelling tests with pictures of loaded guns on them." Why don't you compromise? They can teach her to spell the word "gun," but they'll put a picture of a rutabaga beside it. That should prepare her for life near Smith Falls, at least until she's older and tries to hold up a liquor store. Chloe's class has moved on from "G" to "H" words now. "And you know what?" Mrs. Sousa asked. " 'Hand grenade' wasn't on it. So I'm happy." Wonder what picture they're using for "hump". And I'll bet "hug" is on that list... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |