School District Bans Halloween

[rsmith6621]

<snip>

The superintendent has cancelled all Halloween activities.

A letter sent home to parents Wednesday states there will be no observance of Halloween in the entire school district.

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It's the third reason some Puyallup parents are struggling with.

The district says Halloween celebrations and children dressed in Halloween costumes might be offensive to real witches.

http://komotv.com/stories/33602.htm

[kokomo]

1. It's a religious observance, "all hollowed eve" before a big RC holy day

Another distraction in a school year already disrupted by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, and Easter/spring break. Nearly all festivals of the Christian church. No other religions have their feasts honored by our public schools, but the majority love to bend the rules in their favor.

[donheld]

2. That is just plain stupid

:crazy:

[expatriate]

3. It's sad, really.

I can remember back when I was in grammar school in the 1960's - we celebrated Halloween with school carnivals and drawing jack-o-lanterns and writing Halloween poems. Much of the celebration was integrated into our schoolwork too, so we weren't only partying. If there was an essay to write, it was about Halloween, the reading had Halloween as a topic, etc. It was fun, and a little break from the regular grind. Trick-or-treating in my neighborhood was a blast, with lots of people giving ongoing Halloween parties, and kids comparing which houses had the best treats - and you didn't worry that someone had put something sharp inside their homemade popcorn balls.

Compare that to the horror show that took place when my son was in school in the 1990's. Certain types of costumes weren't allowed because they might offend someone. You couldn't have a costume parade or costume contest, because someone's feelings might get hurt if they didn't win. A school carnival was out because the games might cause a kid to get hurt. At one time, in our desperate attempts to find a decent school situation for my son, we had him in a Lutheran school, where they weren't allowed to have a Halloween celebration, but could come to school dressed as a character from the Bible (he wanted to go as the demon who identified himself as Legion, giving him a chance to wear his devil costume to school, but I just convinced him to stay home instead). Trick-or-treating could be followed with a jolly trip to the hospital where they would x-ray your treats for you to be sure no sicko had put stuff into them with intent to harm. What fun!

I've known a few Wiccans in my time, and they were never threatened or put out by typical Halloween witch costumes. Maybe there are some Wiccans who find this offensive, but for heaven's sake, it's just a fun thing - and yes, the kids do all kinds of stuff for every other holiday, though the schools have to keep it secular - but in the long run, they're all religious holidays, even if the symbolism is kept secular.

The Halloween Grinch has struck.

[dancing kali]

4. Most witches

I know are into the whole Halloween celebration thing and are in no way offended by it. I don't usually do the treat thing because I'm usually hanging out with other witches that night. Where did they get the idea that Halloween observances by kids would be offensive to me? Of all the things I dislike about children in general - dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating are pretty low on the list of offensive behaviour... ok, maybe I would prefer that the fireworks thing would go away but again it's not really offensive - just loud and annoying. Hey, people all over the place are celebrating a witch's holiday... why would we have a problem with that?

For the record... I do own a pointy hat and a cauldron. While I own several brooms, none of them would I ever consider to be a reasonable mode of transportation - especially here in the Pacific Northwest - I'd be wet all the time. I have a wonderful little pointy nosed kitchen witch who hangs over my sink. These are not offensive images to me or most of the other witches I know.

Bloody foolishness.

[scarlet_owl]

5. That's crazy. I can't speak for all witches, but my

mother, who is a witch, LOVES Halloween! She loves costumes and giving out candy. I remember grade school Halloween parties fondly, and now they don't do those anymore at our local school districts. We used to have a costume parade around the block that was so much fun. I think it's sad that the kids have to miss things like that these days. :(

Edited for punctuation.

[LWolf]

6. As an elementary school teacher

who grew up in public schools, I've never understood the "tradition" thing. Not once, in any of the 10 schools I attended K -12th grade, did we wear costumes to school. I don't remember any parties, candy, etc.; we were always hyperfocused on AFTER school, when we'd go home and get ready for the big event; trick-or-treating.

I didn't run into the parade/party scenario until my own kids were in school. And I didn't "get" it until I became a teacher myself.

This is not a 30 minute "pass out candy walk in a parade" event. Kids are wearing the costumes all day long. Some costumes interfere with movement and ability to sit in your own space at your desk. Some, no matter how explicitly you explain this beforehand, violate dress code and pissed off parents have to come get their kid and bring something different to wear. Backpacks are full of candy, and whether or not it's "scheduled" for the end of the day, candy is passed through the underground all day. Starting before school. And we get to manage 32 (my class size) sugared bodies all day long. If you think the kids are focused on learning all day until the candy/parade thing starts, think again. Just try to get anything productive accomplished. By the end of the day, the costumes are bedraggled, and they rush home to put a DIFFERENT costume on for trick-or-treating. Because they've been anxious to go out and collect all that candy; they've been waiting and waiting, and so looking forward to it...oh, wait. They had bags of their own candy already. They ate half of their own, passed out the other half, and ate a bunch of the loot they've already collected. But that's not enough. They now need to go out and collect more candy.

These kids will be on sugar highs and crashes for days to come. Making our classroom of 32 such an interesting place to be.

If you think that this does not impact learning time, think again. And, of course, there is the exclusion factor. Every kid whose family does not "do" Halloween is excluded. Shrugs, headshakes over the parents' beliefs, and "oh well, too bad" blanket the campus. It's one of those days that these kids endure. Just like others endure the "under god" in the pledge every day.

I don't think we need to "outlaw" Halloween; but a little restraint at school might be nice. If we could just get over being obsessive about it, and keep whatever we do in moderation, that would be a good start. And it starts at home, with listening to classroom requests and complying with them out of respect for the person who actually will be present supervising the whole thing. I have a fantasy every year about using my "personal days" to take halloween and valentine's day off; I never do, knowing what a disaster would be wreaked upon my classroom, but I always want to.

I have this fantasy, where all of those parents who think kids need more parties host the parties themselves, in their own homes. Where they can choose the number of children attending, and sugar them up to their hearts' content.