A Florida school district has literally banned the dictionary in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) 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.

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[–] 116 points 2 years ago (15 children)

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.

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  • [–] 24 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (3 children)

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

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I kinda would have been, but I had a dictionary at home so didn't use the library one much.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [+] 4 points 2 years ago (4 children)
  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    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?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    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

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years 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.

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