Dictionary sex definition causes flap

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A dictionary with an entry for "oral sex" will be put back in use at a California public school after being removed due to demands by parents, officials said.

A compromise by administrators, teachers and parents will allow the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary to be placed back in fourth- and fifth-grade classes at Oak Meadows Elementary School, the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported Wednesday.

But an alternate dictionary will also be placed in the classrooms and parents will be able to choose which they want their children to use, the newspaper said.

Officials had pulled the Merriam-Webster version last week when a parent complained about a child stumbling across the "oral sex" definition.

A committee of administrators, teachers and parents made the decision to offer both dictionaries. School board policy is to form such committees when classroom materials are challenged.

School parents will receive a letter about the two dictionaries and can sign a form on the letter to indicate their choice of which their children can use, the Press-Enterprise said.