CA school district bans dictionaries with “oral sex” definition

2010-01-29 04:18:44 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash, Social responsibility)

Menifee School District is pulling Merriam-Webster’s Colligate Dictionary from shelves.

Legal news for California social responsibility attorneys. Menifee School District is pulling Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary from shelves.

Menifee Union School District is pulling Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary after finding explicit language.

Menifee, CA—Free speech advocates are gearing up after California’s Menifee Union School District pulled all copies of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary from its shelves after a curious student discovered the word “oral sex” amongst its pages. The lexicons entry of “oral sex” reads, “oral stimulation of the genitals,” which has many teachers, parents, and school officials in an uproar over the “age-inappropriate” entry, as reported by Fox News.

After concerned parents complained to Oak Meadows Elementary School about the sexual term, Menifee school administrators pulled the dictionaries from library shelves. The parents, teachers, and principals of the 9,000 students that attend Menifee schools between kindergarten and 8th grade, have formed a committee to decide whether the dictionary is appropriate for the young students eyes. Free speech advocates are calling this action “needless and harmful censorship.” A spokesperson for California First Amendment Coalition stated, “If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries.” Other families who are supporting the districts actions are counting on the school district to do everything they can to keep from exposing children to explicit language. While the heated debate is underway, the school district still has copies of dictionaries that aren’t considered offensive in their possession.

Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for California social responsibility lawyers.