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Education

NY Parents Outraged Over Daughter’s Spelling Words: ‘Gun’ and ‘Rob’

Feb. 9, 2012 10:57pm Madeleine Morgenstern

Image source: NY1

Two New York parents were outraged when they got a look at their 5-year-old daughter’s spelling assignment — specifically, the words “gun” and “rob.”

Lawrence Gillman’s daughter goes to a school in Queens, where her class was given a sheet of vocabulary words to help learn letters and sounds.

“I looked at it and I seen the word ‘gun’ on it. The first thing I thought was ‘oh no no no,’ I don’t want you reading it, I don’t want you spelling it. I don’t even want you looking at the picture,” Gillman told New York’s NY1.

The sheet featured a cartoon image of a gun, as well as a robber holding one while carrying a bag of money.

“You’re teaching them that guns are okay because you’re putting it in their homework, you’re teaching them that robbing is okay because you’re putting it in their homework,” Takiema Reynolds, the girl’s mother, told the station.

According to NY1, other parents with young children at the school were equally shocked by the words.

“I teach my kids not to play with guns, don’t aim or do any of that. I don’t think it is good at all,” one parent said.

“If you are going to use that, you have to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it,” another told the station.

New York Department of Education officials told NY1 the teacher brought the assignment with her from a previous school and has since apologized. The school’s principal will monitor future assignments to avoid a similar problem.

Parents at a Georgia elementary school were furious last month over a slavery-themed math homework assignment. One of the teachers involved in distributing the assignment ultimately resigned.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (126)

welovetheUSA
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:26am
How about…….murder….killer…throw-up…skinned alive….sissy………mama’s baby got to go pooopoooh!

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- USAMEDIC3008
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:26am
  Momma I need a GUN so I dont get ROBed
  
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- TXPilot
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:27am
  Hmm….uber liberal parent that refuses to teach her daughter about guns or anything else that is not “politically correct”? What I see here, is her raising a kid that will be a future Occupy Wall Street, entitlement minded, hippie….this will end badly…….probably one day, when she is arrested, while trying to holdup a convenience store with a banana…..very sad…..
  
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- 4xeverything
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:48am
  It only seems right that kids in NY should know how to spell what they are spraypainting on walls.
  
  Report this comment
- Tidewater_VA
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 5:26am
  Bad words……. Welfare, entitlements, abortion, adultery, marijuana, etc.
  
  Gun and rob seam so horrible
  
  Report this comment
- Detroit paperboy
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 5:44am
  I be’s real mad when i seen dat word… Ohhh no no if you ax me…..
  
  Report this comment
- loriann12
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:47am
  I’m surprised with that picture, they didn’t list the word job…..I have a job, I rob people.
  
  Report this comment
- flagbearer
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:48am
  Sorry, but I think this is an over reaction. If you look at even VERY old reading books, these words were there to teach basic word families. What are you going to do, eliminate them from a dictionary?
  
  Report this comment
- mdeputy7
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:16am
  Oh my gosh…are you serious? They’re mad about this? I’m only 26, and when I was in elementary school, I never thought being taught what a gun or robber was made it OK to rob anybody. And what’s wrong with guns? I understand what’s wrong with certain people having guns, but what’s wrong with guns? This is ridiculous
  
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- NeoFan
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:43am
  Its ok. She will learn those words very soon living in the Utopia of New York probably the first time she gets robed and raped. The thugs know what a gun is and they know the people there will not even say the word let alone posses one for protection. In Utah where I live the thugs know that a gun is the last thing they saw pointing at them when they were trying to rob someone just before everything went black and they met Jesus.
  
  Report this comment
- M 4 Colt
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:00pm
  Neofan, no they won’t be meeting Jesus, they will be meeting the Devil.
  
  Report this comment
- Conservative_Fed
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:41pm
  I bet if the word ABORTION were on that piece of paper, none of those ******** would have a problem with that
  
  Report this comment
- TeacherontheRight
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:22pm
  They are teaching our kids that guns are only used to hurt/rob people. Let’s teach them the 2nd
  amendment, the Right to Bear Arms.
  
  Report this comment
- TeacherontheRight
  Posted on February 11, 2012 at 10:30am
  They’re teaching kids that guns are only meant to rob or hurt people; let’s teach them the 2nd Amendment.
  
  Report this comment
tzion
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:18am
At least she isn’t being taught that guns should be illegal. Are they dangerous, yes. Should she learn about them? Absolutely.

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- Rocky_biskit
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:58am
  Ummm yes they are being taught that guns should be illegal. By the mother getting angry with the word being in the homework, she is in effect “outlawing” the word … it isnt a far stretch to connect that to the actual tangible gun.
  
  Report this comment
- objectivetruth
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:51am
  Do you ever plan on publishing my comment or are you taking lessons form my real world would be silencers?
  
  Report this comment
- pjmarshake
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:01pm
  @TZION,
  
  just to clarify something, guns do not just jump off of tables and start firing unless there is a person making the gun fire. By themselves, guns are actually less dangerous than the automobile.
  
  In 2009, there were 35,900 deaths from car accident (http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1103.pdf), yet there were only 15,200 murders in the same year (http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0306.pdf).
  
  Report this comment
- JohnnyMidknight
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:52pm
  @ pjmarshake
  
  And don’t forget that you are only stating “Murder” and not Murder by Firearms. that number is even less: 9,146
  
  http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html
  
  Report this comment
- 762x51
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:57pm
  Actually, the child is being taught by her parents that guns and robbers don’t exist. Imagine how surprised she is going to be by the real world. Poor kid, between the loony schools and her even loonier parents she no chance.
  
  Report this comment
vet66
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:06am
The first thing this parent “seen” on it! Sounds like this parent is too dumb to comment on anything to me. Certainly doesn’t know how to speak proper english.

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wntsmallgov
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:57pm
Welcome to the NYC educational process. Start them out early and hope that they become career criminals by 12

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RightThinking1
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:51pm
When I was about 6 years old, I got a Hopalong Cassidy cap gun. I still have it. I would be hard pressed to think of a kid who did not have a cap gun of some kind. We roamed the neighborhood having shoot ‘em ups. It was great! Most of us graduated to BB guns a little later, and for Christmas when I was 10, I received a Remington .22, which I still have also .
Did any of the kids I grew up with become evil people? Nope, not a one. Many served in the military, many became occasional hunters, all good responsible citizens. I was amused in boot camp by the number of city boys who had never fired a gun of any kind, and had no sense whatever regarding firearms. Many were intimidated by them.
If this person thinks that teaching their kid to be afraid of firearms is going to make them safer, they are an idiot.

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- CatB
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:13am
  Wish I still had my cap gun! .. my mother gave away all my now CLASSIC toys … including my Lionel train set …. and yes I am a girl .. but I grew up in the country in a neighborhood of boys. I can still smell the cap powder and paper smell … in my mind ;-)
  
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- Therightsofbilly
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:53am
  @CATB
  
  That was a great smell, wasn’t it?
  
  Report this comment
- Jackie Rogers, Jr.
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:03am
  I remember when I was a little kid in the sixties loading my cap gun. Tearing a roll of caps from the others, (which came in cylinders of six rolls packaged in a small cardboard box). Using my fingernail to separate the leading edge from the roll. Opening the gun and trying to place the first inch of paper correctly in all the guide slots. Then trying to place the exact center of the roll on the spindle that held the roll. (Sometimes there was no spindle and the roll just sat in its space.) Then close the gun pull the trigger and pop , pop, pop. Usually the gun would jam after a dozen shots or so, but sometimes, if you had the right roll of caps and had placed it in the gun just right, and the stars were in the correct alignment and the gods were with you…. Well then you could fire that whole roll of caps without one jam. Then you were happy because you thought you had broke the secret of loading a cap gun. Then you’d do the whole thing again the gun would jam and once again you’d be reminded that there was no rhyme or reason to loading a cap gun. One of life’s little lessons.
  
  Report this comment
- Gonzo
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:20am
  You would probably go to jail for giving your kid a cap gun today. Funny how when you mentioned the smell, how vividly it came to my mind.
  
  Report this comment
- thegreatcarnac
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:24am
  Yeah…that slight gun powder smell was neat. I loved my cap guns when I was a little kid. I was a cowboy….always fighting for good. Me and friends would play cowboy and indians for hours. We were the scourge of he ‘bad guys’. Then…I grew up and realized that most of the time, you can’t detect who is the bad guy until the last minute…and…they won’t let you shoot them.
  
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- individualrights1st
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:56am
  I remember when teenagers walked down the city streets on their way to and from school with their rifles slung over their shoulder because they belonged to a school sponsored Hunt or Gun club. How far we have come.
  
  Report this comment
momrules
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:45pm
I’m one of those older, raised in the country people. My Dad had guns in the house and they were not hidden.We were taught what they were and what they were for. We were also taught that if we so much as touched them without an adult around we were in big trouble and I am talking a whipping with a belt.
Before anyone gets whiney over child abuse because of the belt, we listened, we learned and none of us ever killed a single person through accident or design.

Gun is not a dirty word.

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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:36pm
Raise your daughter in NY and do not want her to learn about guns? I guess it is best she learn it from the Rapist and the Muggers…Well The few that do notObey NY’s stupid gun laws.I am Sure 98% of the criminals obey the law…..

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angelcat
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:35pm
I guess the rest of us can object if our kids are asked to spell “redistribute” or”taxes” since we don’t want our kids to think those things are ok.

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- Captain Crunch
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:48am
  Now that’s funny. Good point.
  
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- pamela kay
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 4:11am
  ANGELCAT, Lol. That is a good point.
  
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- loriann12
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:54am
  No, the liberals would rather teach out children that homosexuality is a natural thing. Bet she gets taught how to spell Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and transgendered.
  
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piecolorado
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:34pm
Last week my 10 year old came home with a new vocab list. It included “homocide”, “regicide”, and “fratricide”. I was a little shocked, but I simply explained the meaning of the words and moved on. Then my son said part of this week’s assignment was to draw pictures of the meanings of the words to ensure you knew the meaning. I wondered for a moment if he might get suspended for bringing in pictures of a homocide that he drew. Maybe in some schools he’d be forced to visit a shrink. Anyway, he turned it in with no problems. I guess our school is normal enough. I’m glad they’re learning these types of words.

By the way, if kids didn’t know what a gun was, what might they do if they found one?

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- AxelPhantom
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:30am
  Back in “the old days” they just taught us Latin and told us to figure those words out. Not a bad concept.
  
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- Twobyfour
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:18am
  Was not the word “hоmicide”?
  “Hоmоcide” would be…. offing a hоmоsexual?
  
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- piecolorado
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:07am
  You’re correct. It is spelled homicide. Sorry for that typo. In my defense, it was a vocab test, not a spelling test. And it was my son’s test, not mine. : )
  
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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:33pm
.
They just better be glad the Union taught them such complex words, in the first place….

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TheObamanation
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:27pm
I’m soooooooo glad I don’t live in New York … Oh Auntie Em … There’s no place like home.

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TSUNAMI-22
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:27pm
Why does the Statue of Liberty still occupy real estate in New York?

I vote we move the Icon to somewhere more liberty appropriate.

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- wntsmallgov
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:57pm
  the statue is actually in NJ waters
  
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- TSUNAMI-22
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:00am
  @ wntsmallgov
  
  the statue is actually in NJ waters
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  National Park Service, Statue of Liberty National Monument
  Liberty Island
  New York, NY 10004-1467
  
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- DD313
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:40pm
  Don’t worry about the statue, worry about the fleabaggers occupying real estate in New York.
  
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- chips1
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:32pm
  Michelle in a Moo Moo? I don’t think so.
  
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Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:26pm
Pansie parents raise pansie serfs, not powerful citizens.

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- circleDwagons
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:40pm
  da*n right. and teach them to shoot straight
  
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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:30am
  Agreed.
  
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- DD313
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:42pm
  Yes ma’am ;)
  
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bikerr
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:26pm
When this child walks the streets.She’ll never know what hit her!

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Captain Crunch
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:23pm
oh boy! the censers are hot on the job with this story!

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- oldguy49
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:30pm
  sheep……raising more sheep
  
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poverty.sucks
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:20pm
Next week spelling words:

Glitter

Bomb

the Obama administration goal is that every child is “Left Behind”

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- lukerw
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:13pm
  How about… RAPE!
  
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Captain Crunch
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:18pm
NO no no….they aren’t teaching the children correctly. They should start by teaching them never to piont a gun at anybody unless you are going to shoot them, and then aim for the largest part of the target, the chest. Never, never never try to be a fancy shooter aiming for the head. I wish they would do a better job of teaching those youngsters!

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- Captain Crunch
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:21pm
  Don’t get upset…pure sarcasm is the intent. But truth is often spoken in jest.
  
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spirited
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:12pm
1). “New York Department of Education officials told NY1 the teacher brought the assignment with her from a previous school and has since apologized.”

2). ” The school’s principal will monitor future assignments to avoid a similar problem.”

>You have got to be kidding.

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- dmforman
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:54am
  No, as a former teacher, that sounds about right. The teacher most likely brought this assignment in because what she was able to use sucked and wasn’t getting through to the kids. This is yet another reason why I homeschool.
  
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KangarooJack
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:10pm
So what is the entire story other than said parents read “guns” on the spelling test. This test for a what, 5yr old????
The answer is NO-what the hell is a 5yr. old needing to have “guns” on their spelling test. Does that answer any questions???

But the apparent gut reaction to the word ‘gun’ is just precious! Dear Parents who shelter your children via nanny’s and au pairs…perhaps you might want to review the child in GA who fought off an attacker in broad daylight-mid shopping excursion…SHE FOUGHT BACK BECAUSE SHE WAS Taught to!

The rest of you can shelter your children from a world that has it out for your kids. So guns are bad?!? Guns kill your kids as much as easy bake ovens do. Look at the stats for yourself.

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- ArgumentumAdAbsurdum
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:57pm
  Okay, I took your advice and did look at the stats. What I found was that between 2000-2005, 730 children(aged 17 and under) were killed by accidental firearm injuries. Thats one child every 3 days. (note that I havent included homicides or suicides). As for Easy Bake Ovens, while there are numerous cases of kids burning their hands, sometimes severely, I have not been able to find one instance of a child being killed by one.
  
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- KangarooJack
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:25am
  Well, I got to hand it to ‘ya. While I’m listening to my Queens’ Greatest Hits CD you, apparently, were looking up stats on Easy Bake Oven injuries. All I can say is this-my 3 kids know Mom has a few guns. Mom doesn’t want me (nor my friends) to touch said guns or else my “back door will be painted red”
  
  Until you actually face a person who will do harm to your family, and all you have is a phone to dial 911…and hope they think it’s a serious offense….Please, think me an inbred ignorant…all the more food for me and my own. lol lol
  
  Report this comment
rowanrobert
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:07pm
I lol@this. My 3 yr old knows what a gun is and also knows that they are not toys. My 7 yr old knows how to safely use and handle a gun. We skipped play guns, bb guns and airsoft guns and went tot he real thing. My 3 yr old also knows that you have to pay for things before walking out of a store. My 7 yr old knows that stealing is wrong. These parents suck, they need to stop sheltering their children and Teach them. Key word, teach them about life. because if they don’t they will get out into the real world and learn it the hard way.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:11pm
  He’s from New York. Wha’d ya expect.
  
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booger71
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:04pm
I think it is a good lesson. The robber (the government) is using a gun to rob the taxpayers.

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The_Jerk
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:04pm
Guns are good. More guns are better.

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COFemale
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:03pm
I don’t know why she is upset, isn’t robbery a common everyday occurrence in Queens? She needs to recognize the bad guys, unless she would mistake the picture as daddy?

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- spirited
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:13pm
  lol
  
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TORCH9
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:02pm
These parents are freaks. Give it a break!!

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- CatB
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:25pm
  Yes .. sounds like mom was WAY more upset over spelling Gun that the criminal that had it … should be teaching the kids that good people need to protect themselves from the bad and you don’t take a knife to a gun fight. Sounds like they are raising another “victim” i.e. LIBERAL!
  
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openbook
Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:01pm
I suppose every baby boomer in the US, and all of their children are murdering dirtbags too. Obviously they would have to be Looney Tunes taught us all that guns are okay and robbing people is fun, oh yeah, and that gunshot wounds heal spontaneously.

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- spirited
  Posted on February 9, 2012 at 11:14pm
  Wait………………….those will be banned shortly.
  
  >But kids are being taught about homosexuality in what grade?
  
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