So says George Orwell in 1984. If you recall (or if you don’t), the Party aims to make “thoughtcrime” impossible by removing words which describe forbidden ideals, such as freedom, rebellion, etc., from the dictionary. No words, no thoughts. One character remarks on the slender volume with the above quote.
Apparently, the New York City public school system (see link below) has latched onto this idea with a fury. They’ve submitted a list of 50 words they would like removed from all future standardized tests. The list includes any mention of poverty or items of luxury; terrorism, divorce or disease; and many kinds of celebration from dancing to birthdays to Halloween.
Dinosaurs are forbidden because they might make students think of evolution, and if they don’t believe in evolution, they might become upset or distracted. (They don’t seem to realize creationists point to dinosaurs in making their arguments for a young earth and creation.) Even the word pepperoni is out. (Some religions don’t eat it.)
The goal is to eliminate any possibility of a student having a negative thought that could distract him from doing his best on the test. It’s perhaps on some level a noble goal, but it’s impractical to the point of being ludicrous. If we don’t mention homes with computers or pools, maybe the student will forget he didn’t eat breakfast that morning. Or if terrorism is not referred to on the test, maybe she won’t remember a family member died in Oklahoma City, or 9/11, or Afghanistan.
Pretending “unpleasant emotions” or events don’t exist—even for a day—is not the way to prepare our children for a world full of hard work, differences, inequality and times when life is plain unfair.
That’s just “doublethink.”