In the latest installment of politically correct school rules and policies gone berserk, students in Pennsylvania have been sent home with a permission slip asking parents to sign off on their Oreo cookie consumption.
The teacher wants to know whether it’s OK for middle schoolers completing a science project to eat the Double Stuf Oreos used in their experiment.
As a precaution, she goes so far as to list the product’s ingredients, no doubt terrified that parents might balk at the otherwise hidden dangers of “milk’s favorite cookie.”
No-nonsense New York City parenting expert Lenore Skenazy, author of the blog Free-Range Kids, writes: “There are 18-wheelers with brake problems, hungry bears just stumbling out of hibernation, and lawn mowers that suddenly shift into reverse. And then there’s the unparalleled danger of Double Stuf Oreos.”
Here’s a rundown of other insane school and college rules that have most right-minded parents scratching their heads.
Promoting ‘gender inclusiveness’
In October 2014, a school district in Nebraska circulated a handout that suggested teachers avoid “gendered” expressions, such as “boys and girls,” in case they alienate transgender students. The instructions, issued by the Lincoln Public Schools system, recommended using gender-neutral expression such as “Calling all readers,” “Hey, campers” or something as nonspecific as “Purple penguins” when telling kids to sit down on the rug for circle time.
Silencing the silver bells
The University of California at Berkeley is known for its extreme political correctness. It certainly lived up to its reputation in November 2012, when the student government passed a resolution calling for a campus-wide ban on Salvation Army bell-ringers and their red kettles at Christmastime.
The racist peanut butter and jelly sandwich
A Portland, Ore., school official served up a controversy in September 2010 when she suggested peanut butter and jelly sandwiches carry racist connotations. Verenice Gutierrez, principal of Harvey Scott School, a public elementary through middle school, criticized a teacher who mentioned the sandwich in a lesson the previous year. “What about Somali or Hispanic students who might not eat sandwiches?” she asked.
Red and green be damned
It’s common for principals to favor “holiday trees” instead of Christmas trees, but Nichols Elementary in Frisco, Texas, went one step further in December 2013. The colors red and green were banned from the school’s Winter Party, and the children were not allowed to make any reference to Christmas or any other religious holiday. One teacher there wanted to add an Elf on the Shelf to her classroom — but decided against it in case she “got in trouble.”