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.

    • 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.