‘Banned words’: Iowa middle school teacher bans students from saying ‘Diddy party,’ ‘hawk tuah,’ and even ‘Ohio’

An Iowa social studies teacher produced a long, physical list of “banned words” and threatened to punish students if they are heard using them.

Iowa teacher Leah Ingraham from the Fremont-Mills Community School District allegedly put the poster of forbidden terms in her classroom for her seventh-grade students to see.

The list of “banned words” contains everything from jokes to references to pro-masculinity words.

Starting off seemingly as a joke, the first term on the list was “Diddy party,” followed by “diddler.”

Students are also seemingly banned from using terms like “alpha, beta, omega,” and “sigma,” which are typically related to terms like alpha male.

More obscure and unknown references included a ban on saying “baby oil,” “skibiti (toilet),” and even the word “Ohio.”

It’s unclear why Ohio was chosen, but some definitions on the Urban Dictionary said that it could be used to say a person is bipolar or freaking out. This is apparently based on the state’s unpredictable weather.

The middle school students are also explicitly banned from “barking,” “meowing,” telling “fat jokes,” and telling “LGBT+ jokes.”

The list had several spelling mistakes, including “refrences” and “gigga.”

Lastly, students are banned from using online terms such as “rizz,” which essentially means being good at flirting, “womp womp,” meant as an onomatopoeia for failure, and “talk or hawk tuah.”

The latter refers to online personality Hailey Welch and her podcast. Welch is known for starring in a viral video in which she talked about sex acts.

In the bottom corner of the banned words poster, students are warned that if they “say any of these words” they will “owe Ms. Ingraham a 30min detention.”

List of banned words posted at Fremont-Mills Community School District in Tabor, Iowa.Photo courtesy Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression first covered the story after a parent of one of the students sent the organization the photo.

The foundation told Blaze News that it has sent a letter to the Fremont-Mills Community School District over free speech concerns. The foundation has not heard back from the district.

‘Students have First Amendment rights, and they don’t shed those rights when they put on their backpacks.’

National Desk reported, however, that school Principal Kurt Hanna said, “The grievance in question was previously addressed with the complainant [and] will be investigated further after more information was received this afternoon.”

Hanna added that “internal reviews of classroom procedures and practices” are regularly conducted with the district.

FIRE’s Aaron Terr called the teacher’s decision “terrible” and a signal that “words can be arbitrarily banned.”

“Students have First Amendment rights, and they don’t shed those rights when they put on their backpacks,” Terr added.

The foundation said its ultimate goal was to teach students that their right to free speech will be threatened throughout their lives and that students should speak up when that happens.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!