For the past few years, language purists have bemoaned the way "text speak" like LOL and OMG has wormed its way into written communication.

But according to parents, a Georgia elementary school went too far when it made students sign a pledge stating they wouldn't use acronyms when signing each other's yearbooks.

Teachers at Birmingham Falls Elementary School in the town of Milton circulated the pledges among the pupils, who had to sign them before being given copies of the school's yearbook. Anyone who violated the pledge was told they'd be sent to the principal's office and have their yearbook taken away.

When parents found out, they were furious.

One mom, Patti Silva, posted about the pledge on her Facebook page, alerting other parents and eventually the media. "I thought 'Really, you're kidding me? Why we didn't hear about it. Why can't we draw a smiley face?' That's what we thought," she said.

Her daughter added, "Freedom of speech -- that's one of our amendments, people. No one really liked it. I thought it was kind of stupid."

Silva and some other Milton parents told their kids to ignore the pledge and sign their classmates' books however they wanted -- and the school has since backed down on enforcing the pledge.

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