In my college cafeteria I occasionally heard being played what I later learned was the well known “penis game.” As far as I could tell, one guy would say “penis” in low voice; the next contestant would say it louder, and so on, until it was being shouted for the whole world to hear.
I couldn’t help but remember that game this week during a team leaders discussion about our school’s current discipline program, which is being renamed Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, commonly said as individual letters, not as a word, in order to conform to the terminology of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“That’s a really unfortunate acronym,” I piped up. “It’s really bad.”
An assistant principal said, “What’s so bad about it? I don’t get it.” The teacher next to her leaned over and whispered in her ear; she laughed, horrified.
The general presence giggled, but the head principal closed the discussion with, “It’s a national program,” which makes it a great idea, apparently, even if it is one that I’d be happy to protest by playing a “PBIS game” round or two during a faculty meeting sometime.
As an acronym, after all, it sucks.