sat on her tuffet
eating her curds and whey
along came a spider and sat down
beside her
and got hit with a harassment suit
and restraining order.
Political correctness. Is it a well-meaning initiative, or an attempt to undermine our laid-back way of life?
No more can we have policemen and firemen. We must be non-gender specific, and don't even think about mentioning religion or race. The world is going into PC overdrive.
Although my opening nursery rhyme may not be the official PC Little Miss Muffet, it is just as crazy as the now commonly used Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. Has anyone pointed out there is no such thing as a rainbow sheep! They say the words black sheep alienate and offend young black children. It's not the only nursery rhyme to be deemed inappropriate.
Humpty Dumpty has now escaped his original fate. He still falls off his wall, but now stays in one piece. Hello?
This could lead to a whole generation thinking that if you fall off a wall, you won't get hurt. Dear me, where could this lead?
Political correctness in New Zealand is on a smaller scale compared to the madness in the United Kingdom. A chief constable refused to release pictures of two escaped murderers because it might breach their privacy. What about the victim?
New Zealand hasn't completely escaped though. The PC fog is sneaking down the country.
Auckland's Middlemore Hospital has removed the crucifix from the hospital's chapel, oh, sorry, I mean the spiritual centre. How much comfort will patients or visitors find in an empty room, devoid of any of the religious symbols that they have come to expect?
Little to none, I'm sure.
The Eskimo lolly is one of our country's favourites. Last year, there was a lot of publicity about them. The large majority of us have all eaten at least one, if not 50. Apparently that makes us cannibalistic, Inuit-hating people. Get real. Most of the time they're processed so badly that you can't tell what they are anyway.
I haven't seen Sir Edmund Hilary's "Risk Management Plan" for climbing Mt Everest displayed in any museum.
Nor have I seen a photo of Richard Pearce wearing his fluoro vest during his flight attempts. These good old-fashioned Kiwi heroes succeeded before the days where everyone had to be kept safe in the bubble wrap we're expected to use for everything we do.
Political correctness is a crazy plan to stop human beings doing what we were designed to do - think for ourselves.
To stop this dangerous trend we need to stand up for what we believe in and think for ourselves. Keep a sense of humour and stop small-minded people ruining our lives.
These PC trends are sneaking in all over the world. Society is at risk of being destroyed. We need to unite, burn those risk management plans, buy a big bag of Eskimos, and take responsibility for our own actions.
- By Sarah Mosely, Year 13, South Otago High School