In May New York TV reporter Arthur Ch'ien was fired from his job for saying the "f" word on live TV.
If Arthur had gone to the Weavers School in England he could have claimed, "I learned it in school." It seems the Weavers School is introducing a new policy.
According to the Daily Mail, students may say the "f" word up to five times. That's not five times a semester, that's five times a class.
Now, in the states, high school students go to about six classes a day. So if you can say the "f" word five times in six classes. Well, you do the math. That's a lot of effing words.
"Assistant headmaster Richard White said the policy was aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds in two classes which are considered troublesome.'Tolerate but not condone'
"Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score," he wrote in the letter.
"Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson."
Parents called the rule 'wholly irresponsible and ludicrous'.
"This appears to be a misguided attempt to speak to kids on their own level," said the father of one pupil. "
Is it misguided? Or, is it merely a school recognizing that language norms have changed?
Last month I was taken aback when one of the key hostesses of Blogher greeted the conference using the "f" word. It got me thinking, as I shared in Bitch Bitch Bitch, that it may be a generational attitude.
About 18 months ago Blogcritics ran a very funny piece advocating that the "F" word should be allowed on the radio. It's a very funny piece but it also supports the school in England's position. The word is so over-used that it's lost its power (actually that point is shared by someone in the comments section.)
So, if school is preparation for work, how long will it be before corporations have policies allowing people to say the "F" word (but only five times in a meeting)?
ed:JH
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