Enuf Is Enuf

The nation's capital always draws its share of protesters...

But spelling bee protesters?

...

Their message was short: Simplify the way we spell words.

Roberta Mahoney, 81, a former Fairfax County, Va. elementary school principal, said the current language obstructs 40 percent of the population from learning how to read, write and spell.

"Our alphabet has 425-plus ways of putting words together in illogical ways," Mahoney said.

The protesting cohort distributed pins to willing passers-by with their logo, "Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much."-In DC, even the Spelling Bee draws protesters

There are other advocates of "spelling reform" as well:

The aims of the Spelling Society are:

* To raise awareness of the problems caused by the irregularity of English spelling.
* To promote remedies to improve literacy, including spelling reform.

At the present moment the Spelling Society, while raising awareness of the problems caused by the irregularity of English spelling, is promoting a conference to persuade people and Governments of the economic and social costs of Traditional Spelling (TS) rather than to advocate specific solutions. (Countries where English is the maternal tongue of the majority have a proven disadvantage compared with countries where less irregular spelling systems are used – up to three years of extra learning is required on average.) If one achieves an environment in which the desirability of reform becomes better understood, then it will be easier to discuss possible solutions.