Posted on 11/07/2007 8:25:32 AM PST by Turret Gunner A20
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Christian student group's latest attempt to show middle school students how fun the group could be was too much for school administrators to swallow.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
1. Exactly who was bobbing for the live goldfish, the kids or the administrators?
2. If it was the kids, did anyone get seriously injured or ill?
3. Were the kids reported to the SPCA for cruelty to the fish? If not, why not? (How would you like to be swallowed whole? I don't think Jonah thought much of the experience.)
4. If it was the administrators doing the bobbing, they should have known beforehand that swallowing live fish isn't all that much fun. And, why take it out on the kids?
Why doesn't somebody tell us these thing, instead of leaving us on tinterhooks (sp)? It's enough to drive one to distraction. (wherever that is)
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Godfish???
LOL at the keyword....
This type of action is only distracting if they are doing it in class. Idiots. The lot of them.
To the contrary, Iv'e always heard fish was a "brain food".
Suuuure...
And besides, being distracted from some of the crap they teach in school nowadays may very well be a good thing.
YUCK!!!
The group leader. I’ve gone rounds and rounds with a youth group leader with a real stupid idea that “JackA**” style stunts and disgusting “games” that often involve humilating or gross features is a way to be relevant and attractive to youth.
Doesn’t seem to understand that aping Hollywood pop culture in debauching youth isn’t what the group is about.
Tenterhooks. (Hooks used in clothmaking to stretch cloth during the fulling/dyeing process. Like the hooks that hold the canvas taut on a camp cot.)
I assume the district officials got roaring drunk, swallowed goldfish, and then (oxygen-deprived?) banned the Christian group.
Fascinating illustration of the evils of Strong Drink!
It doesn’t say if the parents complained about the goldfish or about the Christian group being there in the first place.
It's always good to find a fellow etymology nerd. Do "free reign" and "baited breath" grit your teeth as much as they do mine?
Oh, yes. Right up there with "peeked his interest" and "hoard of people." I have a Verbal Mayhem ping list, if you'd like to be on it.
(Ping, y'all. Fish-swallowing school district!)
Goldfish swallowing is a stunt dating back at least to the ‘20s. Is it cruel? I don’t know enough abut the cognitive functions of tetras to know whether they suffer. But it’s a stunt, it’s disruptive and not productive, and it has no place in the school day.
I’m at a complete loss as to what point the Christian group was making with this exercise — unless it’s “we’re as freaky as a Marilyn Manson concert, therefore we must be as much fun, and our show is a lot cheaper.”
Count me in.
Each of those is a good case and point.
I have a Verbal Mayhem ping list, if you'd like to be on it.
Yes, please. I come from four generations of writers -- I haven't finished a book, but I have bylines, and I figure that counts -- and I was raised to believe that proper use and understanding of language is important.
I remember my dad telling us about goldfish bobbing in his younger days. He would have been 100 this year. He said it was harder than apple bobbing because the little critters wouldn’t stay still.
You know, them little chrome thingies on the backs of cars. They're cross-eyed, too.
You mean like by a fish when you're diving for clams? Depends on the size of the whale.
Yeah, but they're a whole lot easier to swallow whole.
And, I am at a loss as to just what it disrupts, what harm is done and to whom. While I never indulged in that particular activity, I'm not too old to remember some of the harmless, asinine things I thought were fun when I was young -- much to the disgust of some of the old fogies who go through life denying their youthful folly, and looking down their noses in envy at those who still have what they have lost.
Sounds like the proverbial tempest/teapot foolishness to me.
It wasn’t a whale.
Maybe it's bobbing for live goldfish, that should be banned, since school administrators immediately being infringing upon freedom of religion, once they get a few in them, lol?
You said thingies.
Please add me. Your use of “verbal” reminded me of one of my pet peeves. So many people confuse it with “oral”.
And those who think “me” is a poor cousin to “I”, even when used individually.
Was Monica there?
Carolyn
Think of it as ‘free range’ sushi.
Please add me to your ping list.
Once I helped a Christian group on campus set up ‘fish pong’ as an outreach activity, the premise being that if you were able to make a pong shot in three tries, you got to take home a 12-cent ‘feeder’ goldfish from petco, and a piece of paper with fish-care instructions and a little note about our group’s meeting time and place. It was a huge hit - at the end of the day we only had about a dozen fish left, so we wandered around campus and it took about five minutes to give them away. Ironically, we were more worried about getting in trouble for the throwing-balls-into-red-platic-cups part of the game than the fact that we were indiscriminately giving away live fish.
Verbal mayhem ping list? Sounds intristin’, could you add me to the ping list? Thanks.
The Typso and Allied Verbal Outrages Ping List welcomes new members: ReignOfError, Turret Gunner A20, Still Thinking, PAR35, and skepsel.
Please remember to ping me to interesting Typso or fish-swallowing school boards. (Swallowing fish would be less harmful than most of what MY county school board does, but I digress.) You can also copy the list from the bottom of the Tax-chick page and ping ‘em yourselves, if I’m not available.
Please add me to the Verbal Mayhem list
Reign refers to a ruler; rein (without the "g") refers to control, as of an animal - especially a horse. Thus, having "free rein" means being uncontrolled. I see nothing untoward about that, myself.Similarly, "bate" means
What is wrong with that? </stickler mode>
- To lessen the force or intensity of; moderate: "To his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story" George Eliot.
- To take away; subtract.
Done.
“. . . it’s a stunt, it’s disruptive and not productive . . .”
Sounds like the math curriculum my wife is saddled with teaching this year.
Don’t forget “sight,” as in “FR is just about my favorite Web sight.”
There’s nothing wrong with “free rein” and “bated breath”. Using the wrong homophone is a whole ‘nother thing.
Hmmmm the public schools banned dodge ball .. but they didn’t ban gym class
With that said ... this was a stupid game they played
I have my destination in site!
And I read ‘boarder’ here more often than I read ‘border’ when border is clearly what is intended by context.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.