Dictionaries contain words that potentially violate the law's broad language...

A Florida school district has literally banned the dictionary in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s ® book-banning law.

The Escambia County School District has reportedly removed over 2800 books from library shelves as they undergo a review process that will determine if they are inappropriate for students, according to Popular Information. Among the books currently relegated to storage are The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary.

The district contends these texts could violate H.B. 1069, which DeSantis signed into law in May 2023.

  • Wooster@startrek.websiteEnglish
    113·
    10 months ago

    Mmm. Malicious compliance.

    Honestly, it’s pretty ingenious. If they can get their publishers to help push for appeal, then it’ll be worth it in the long run.

    • dmtalon@infosec.pub
      275·
      10 months ago

      Ya, I get it… But now they’re actively participating in making the students education worse.

      No doubt, it’s a lose/lose situation. But I find it quite sad for the innocent kids getting caught up in stupid adult stuff. And believe me… I use “adult” strictly to define age/authority position, not mental or maturity level.

        • lad@programming.dev
          4·
          10 months ago

          And at least half of the time the conflicts start over “protecting kids” 🤦‍♂️

      • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
        15·
        10 months ago

        Yeah kids are probably bummed they can’t check out the dictionary. Maybe they can find an alternative way to look up words though.

          • Halosheep@lemm.ee
            1·
            10 months ago

            Brother, we have this fancy new invention called “the internet”. You can literally go to any search engine and type “define: whatever word here” and boom, the definition and hundreds of online dictionaries will be RIGHT THERE.

      • Yondoza@sh.itjust.works
        13·
        10 months ago

        They all have access to the Internet now. This would be much more detrimental to learning if other resources weren’t in everyone’s pocket.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        209·
        10 months ago

        Yes, you are wrong. Wikipedia can both be divisive and be deceptively edited. It also has articles about subjects. A dictionary just lets a person know what a word (like ‘divisive’) means. Dictionaries are pretty important to education, especially for a child who likely has a smaller vocabulary than most adults.

        Edit: Am I really being downvoted for touting the importance of dictionaries in education?

        • lad@programming.dev
          2·
          10 months ago

          I would guess that people think that dictionaries play a secondary role compared to that of teachers and adults in explaining the meaning of words. Or maybe some think Wiki is without bias and flaw

          But then again, this is just a guess, and I agree with your point to a degree, even if I think dictionaries are not that important in school

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            21·
            10 months ago

            A secondary role, sure, but still a role. A teacher is not always around or may not know the answer, but if a dictionary is right there, the kid can look it up.

    • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
      3·
      10 months ago

      You can only hope so. However from looking in from Australia, America is going to shit at an accelerating pace.

      Thwy remind me of the movie Idiocracy, something i once viewed as extreme and impossible but now plays as almost fact.