As one thinks about looting and broken windows in the Gulf after Katrina, this sort of story seems really silly. But it shows more of continued degradation of discipline in our schools. From England, a story of a school where youcan use the f-word in class (but only five times).

A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be 'spoken' to at the end of the lesson.

The astonishing policy, which the school says will improve the behaviour of pupils, was condemned by parents' groups and MPs yesterday. They warned it would backfire.

Parents were advised of the plan, which comes into effect when term starts next week, in a letter from the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

..."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.

Think of the many number of times on our campus that someone says something insensitive about a protected class, and the persecution that goes after them. Yet we should tolerate teen boys who can't figure out that the mother of all cursewords should be held in abeyance in a high school classroom?

Via John Ray.