They may take our lives, but they will never take our Skibidi slang!
My apologies to Mel Gibson whose character in the movie Braveheart said of his English oppressors, “They may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!” Unlike the heroic martyr William Wallace who was gruesomely executed for his rebellion, Alpha Gen students in the Fremont-Mills Community School District in southwestern Iowa who dare to use certain slang words are only facing a 30-minute detention. But it’s the principle of the thing.
And speaking of principals, it was principal Kurt Hanna who recently posted a list of about 30 slang words that are now banned at the Fremont-Mills schools. If students are not permitted to speak these words, they must be really bad, right, like truly vile, disturbing words that undermine the very fabric of society and twist young minds? Like ‘Fanum tax’ which means snitching someone’s food when they aren’t looking. Or ‘Rizz’ a word short for charisma. Or ‘Rizzler,’ a word for flirt. And how about ‘Sigma’ (from the Greek alphabet), meaning “the best” – or a social outcast who makes his or her own rules. Or “stand on business” which means to take care of your responsibilities. And what about ‘Skibidi’ taken from the surrealistic YouTube show Skibidi Toilet (the show where all these words originate) meaning, well, “meaningless?”
In their official statement, the school explained the reason for the ban: “Our goal is not to censor or stifle student speech, but to guide students toward language that fosters a positive and inclusive learning experience.” (There is a common slang term that describes this kind of statement and its initials are “B.S.”.)
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has jumped on the controversy, arguing the ban violates students’ free speech. Before long, there is bound to be a huge court battle and national news coverage. It seems like everybody is making a big deal over a few innocent words.
So why would kids bother to use “rizz” when “charisma” means the same thing? Slang words have been around forever. Slang has been used as a kind of secret code known only to members of a specific group to prevent outsiders from understanding that they’re saying. In 17th Century England, slang, known as “cant” was used by criminals to hide their activities from the police. A “lifter” was a word for shoplifter. An “Abram-man” was a beggar pretending to be insane. An “angler” was a thief who steals with a fishhook through an open window.
Authorities who ban certain words almost sound like the “Thought Police” in George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 who punish individuals for even thinking anything that goes again the authoritarian ideology of the Party. Skibidi Toilet, the whacky, slang-drenched show, has racked up over 65 billion views, making it the most popular show on YouTube. If, depicting an army of evil creatures with TVs for heads, is about anything, it seems to be about the battle against the dehumanization of surveillance culture and environmental destruction.
Buried beneath the bizarre imagery, Skibidi Toilet might reflect a growing resistance to the trend toward totalitarianism, currently creeping into world politics. And if kids are forced to make up secret words to “stand on their business”, maybe it’s worth the risk of detention.