School district bans Christmas/Hanukah

[The Straight Story]

School district bans Christmas
Principals told to enforce school policy



BATAVIA, N.Y. (FOX/WROC) - A New York school district is taking the merry out of Christmas. The Batavia City School District has asked principals to enforce a policy banning Christmas and Hanukah decorations in classrooms.

Lucy Hudson has been looking forward to the holiday party at her son's school and thinks this ban is ridiculous. "It's been Christmas all these years and now to a bunch of people that's not politically correct. i think that's a bunch of baloney. The effect is that were having a bunch of kids that are hoodlums growing up because they don't have any morality anymore."

In a memo titled "Religious Expression in the Schools", the board lists unacceptable holiday activities. It states that teachers are not allowed to say or write the phrase Merry Christmas.

One school board member says the policy was adopted in 2001 as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, to get federal funding. But parents and teachers say this is the first time they've heard about it.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/us_news/new-york-school-bans--merry-christmas

[Ishoutandscream2]

1. And Fox Snooze is salivating!

[47of74]

9. Bii-O is preparing for opening engagements of...

...the War on Christmas 2011

[Pirate Smile]

2. Boo

:thumbsdown:

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. This is certainly not part of NCLB. That's a crock of shit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Christmas party= morality?

WOW

[Odin2005]

5. Political correctness gone batshit.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. This was an issue when I was in school, back in the '70s...

I guess this will always be a controversy, and one that's tough to avoid, in a culture that starts playing holiday music in October... :(

[The Straight Story]

8. That takes me back

Back in the 70's when I was in school, we didn't even think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. We could dress up pretty much as we wanted for Halloween at school. Christmas and Hanukkah were both celebrated at school, and for thanksgiving we talked about things we were thankful for and made ashtrays out of clay for our parents :)

And look how I turned out. Oh wait. Don't use me as an example!

[Rhiannon12866]

14. I remember that, too, though we made the clay gifts in Brownies, LOL.

And still, hanging on my mother's Christmas tree, is an ornament that I made in third grade. It was a calendar (I won't specify the year ;) ), with Christmas pix, stuck on a background of colored popsicle sticks. Kids brought in popsicle sticks for weeks, since this was a class project... :D

And I do remember when the controversy started. A girl in school objected to the Christmas play, which was an annual tradition. There wasn't anything religious about it, it was just a play. The thing that baffled me back then was that the girl who objected was in the Christmas play, as I was, and seemed to be pleased about it... :shrug:

[The Straight Story]

15. A few, and I mean very few, friends I knew didn't like the whole Hanukkah thing

We had one kid in our school (that I recall, he was in my class) that was Jewish. He was a little 'backward' as mom would say at times, but she made damned sure at the 6th grade picnic (we went k-6 at our school) I was his team mate in several things (like the three legged race).

She was not up on people being treated different than the rest of us.

The whole dreidel thing seemed weird - but fascinated me because I had never really been exposed to it before. I still remember sitting on the floor with Mike as he spun it. No Santa, Rudolph, Christmas cartoons, etc for him to talk about really - just his traditions and what his family did.

Was nice to experience it, and it didn't make me feel bad about my beliefs.

[Rhiannon12866]

16. My friend was disturbed when his little girl brought home a dreidel.

I didn't see a problem with it, since she loved it and was learning about traditions different than her own. :)

Kudos to your Mom. Early experiences like that go a long way in eliminating any sort of prejudice. You had fun! My mother was much the same way. My parents had numerous friends of different faiths and it was a learning experience for us, since we played with their kids. :)

The girl in my school who objected to the Christmas play was Jewish. It baffled me why she'd suddenly object, since she tried out for the play and seemed pleased to be in it. It really had nothing to do with Christmas, was just a play, and they probably should just have renamed it. :shrug:

[apocalypsehow]

27. Clay ashtrays...I'd forgotten about those. Made a dozen for my parents in school & summer camp

over those coming-of-age years (late sixties/early seventies). I'll bet they don't make many "three ash deep" clay cigarette snuffers in avocado green at summer camp these days... :-) :smoke:

[Angry Dragon]

7. Lucy maybe you should tach morality at home instead of expecting

the school to do it for you........... just my opinion

[msongs]

10. sorry lady but the huge majority of "hoodlums" this country are...christians nt

[backscatter712]

11. This is the over-sensationalized "story" that lets Billo the Clown rant about the "War on Christmas"

Realistically, this is only what many school districts do for good reason, as they're government entities required to observe the 1st Amendment Establishment Clause. Happy Holidays is just fine, but "Merry Christmas" is not, as that amounts to a government endorsement of Christianity.

But of course, FAUX News and Bill O'Reilly is going to piss and moan about the "War on Christmas", when really the issue is Judeo-Christian privilege in our government, which is supposed to be out of the religion business entirely.

[provis99]

12. of course the report comes from Fox.

[The Straight Story]

13. A 'fox' channel. I hear folks on FB all the time tell me 'You posted from Maddow!' with no rebuttal

I dunno, I don't blame the source :)

[LiberalFighter]

17. How could they have kids that are hoodlums growing up because of a lack of Christmas

When it is just now that Christmas and Hanukkah is banned in the schools?

Seems to me that the kids coming out of those schools with Christmas and Hanukkah are the ones that have turned into hoodlums.

[kestrel91316]

18. Fundies probably pitched a fit that they had to share the season with

Judaism and couldn't make it a 24/7 Jeebus Fest, so the school district said EFF this sh-t.

[oberliner]

19. I wish Starbucks would do that

The Christmas music and decorations there are out of control.

[SheilaT]

20. Maybe the real solution is to present

it all as a multi-cultural, inter-faith kind of thing.

My older brother, who graduated from high school in 1960, told me recently that when he was in h.s. he had some kind of a class in that kind of thing. We moved to another state before I entered high school, and so didn't experience that sort of thing.

Holiday parties should be just fine, although there are always those who are going to be hyper-sensitive to what might really be going on. Personally, I celebrate Christmas in a purely secular way, even though I am quite aware of the religious origins. One of the things kids in school look forward to is some kind of a break from the academic grind. While it is extremely important to be aware of cultural and religious differences, there ought to be a way to work those things out.

The reality is, that in most communities there will be those who are not Christians, who are Jews or Muslims, or atheists, or who belong to one of the sects of nominal Christians who do not believe in celebrating holidays. And maybe we all need to understand that those things, like prayer, belong in the home and in the churches.

[madmom]

21. perfect time to teach about different cultures IMO.

[frogmarch]

22. no school xmas decos =

hoodlums with no morality!

:rofl:

[xfundy]

23. Just another stupid parrot

parroting fox noise.

Too fucking lazy to think.

[elleng]

24. Stupid

Daughters attended Catholic schools as no acceptable public school available. We're of Jewish and Catholic heritage, celebrated all holidays.

During holiday time, daughter was asked by her Catholic school teacher to tell her class about Hanukah! There's a reason we selected that school for our daughters, it believes in EDUCATION!

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

25. I saw this about it, it is not new and it may not be as all awful as being stated

http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/school-districts-10-year-old-policy-religious-observance-suddenly-news/29222

If you caught Channel 8 (the Fox affiliate in Rochester) newscast tonight, you might think Batavia City Schools have just declared war on Christmas.

The on-air report explicitly accused the district of "canceling Christmas."

That's not quite accurate.

The report was based on a memo provided to district personnel last week reminding them of school policy on religious expression.

continues at link above

[AverageJoe90]

26. Comment from elephantshrewdesign:

"This news story is an outrageous lie! It really is, everyone!

The report was based on a memo provided to district personnel last week reminding them of school policy on religious expression. The district has had such a policy for more than 20 years, according to senior district Board Member Patrick Burk.

Superintendent Margaret Puzio said the memo was nothing out of the ordinary and is something that goes out to district staff about this time every year.

The district's board adopted a policy prohibiting sectarian religious observance, but also ensured that individual teacher and student expressions of faith are protected.

“If I want to wear a shirt that says ‘Merry Christmas,’ I can do that," said Puzio following a district board meeting Monday night.

That's right, folks! You can still say "Merry Christmas," "Happy Hanukkah," or "I love God!" without being expelled and burned at the stake as Fox News castors would have you believe.

Fox news can NOT be trusted. Please, use COMMON SENSE and research things from trusted and valuable sources before you hold strong opinions about them! If someone sounds outrageous, it probably is. Please don't buy into propaganda, right wing or left. Make informed decisions."

Somehow I get the feeling that this is what really happened........fuck Faux News.

[jmowreader]

28. I think I saw this on an episode of South Park

"Does anyone know any non-Jesus and non-Santa Christmas songs?"

"How 'bout we sing 'Kyle's Mom is a Stupid Bitch' in D minor?"