The administrators at Conolia Elementary School have voted to ban the word ‘friend’ from school grounds. Students will no longer be able to refer to classmates as friends, best friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Terry Unionson, the schools principal, is hopeful about the new rule. “Using the term ‘friend’ can cause hurt feelings. If a student hears about two other students being friends, he or she may feel hurt and left out if he or she is not considered a friend,” he or she told us. “This new rule will keep students from having these isolated feelings. After all, it’s not our job to teach, but to protect our children from experiences that could scar them for life.”
Unionson says they are working next to ban the words enemy, good, and bad as well as banning the act of laughing.