Dancing Dinosaurs Verboten

How's my mental health today?

Not bad, but the sun is welcome to put in an appearance any time now. I know my in-laws are relieved that their fields are getting some moisture, but these dreary wet days are not very beneficial for people like me who are living with depression.

Nevertheless, life goes on.

An article in the newspaper caught my attention and has me wondering which reality some people are living in. The headline read, "Dinosaurs, Halloween, banned from tests."

Apparently schools in New York City have been given a list of words they may no longer use on city-issued tests.

Dinosaurs, birthdays, dancing, and Halloween are verboten because they "could evoke unpleasant emotions in students". (So what happens to Barney?) Terrorism and slavery are too "scary". Don't mention diseases because students might have a family member that is ill. Divorce is out of the question because students might have family members that are separated or divorced. Don’t mention wealth because students might become jealous; poverty is also a no-no. The theory seems to be that by removing these words from tests students will “be able to complete their tests without distraction”.

I don’t understand this. Is the intent to train and educate the kids to live in a bubble? What are we doing to our kids? How far are we going to go to shelter them from the realities of this world we live in? What is it going to take to wake people up to realize that protecting our kids’ sensitivities will only cripple them in the long run? What happens when the kids become adults? Who’s going to protect their sensibilities then? Who’s going to counsel them when their sheltered sensitivities are suddenly traumatized by the realities of life?

Who comes up with these ideas? Are they going to be there to help all these sensitive souls come to grips with the sudden assault on their emotions when they have to step out of their bubble? Are we training our kids to live in a grand delusion?

If we fail to train our kids to function well in the real world, how are they ever going to train our grandchildren? What kind of price are our grandchildren and their children going to pay for our society’s refusal to let our kids learn to deal with all the stuff life will throw at them? Whatever will become of them?

What nonsense are we going to read about next?

Maybe you noticed – stories like this set me off.  I better stop this rant; it’s causing my blood pressure to go up! 

Wallow too much in sensitivity 

and you can't deal with life, or the truth. 

 - Neal Boortz