Fredericton — It’s back-to-school time! Parents are stocking up on school supplies, teachers are prepping their classrooms, and as in previous years, it’s also time for the province’s school boards to release their list of banned words.
“We don’t exactly ban words, just like we don’t burn books anymore,” district superintendent Rollie McPherson stated in an interview with The Manatee. “Instead, we strongly suggest that students find alternative ways of expressing themselves without using what the board deems as questionable, suggestive or ambiguous words or phrases.
“We put up fliers around the school with the list of words or phrases and ask that students respect the academic environment and each other by not using the words in conversations, in their school work or on social media.”
This list of words for the 2015-16 academic year, the lengthiest since the program was started in 2007, contains such racy and controversial terms as “democratic,” “hotswap,” ”selfie stick,” “twerk” and “testicular torsion.”
“We want to shape our students into the leaders and role-models of tomorrow, and nothing’s more low-class than saying ‘I like to twerk’ while speaking in public. You know, like Stephen Harper did back in 2013.”
McIntyre admitted that he did not necessarily know what all the words meant, but picked several after going through his daughter’s cellphone text history and made note of them.
His daughter, who is starting Grade 1 today, could not be reached for comment.