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How are holidays celebrated at your private school?
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Anonymous
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Please please do not let this instigate a fight. Our school does a massive holiday party for three holidays at one time in December (Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hannukah), presumably because all these three holidays fall in December or very close to December. I thought Hannukah can fall in November at times too though?? Anyhow, all other holidays may be celebrated on any other month but only with the parent coming into the classroom and talking about their holiday and maybe sharing treats with the kids. So other holidays do not receive the pomp and circumstance that these three holidays receive at our school. I'm not understanding why Kwanzaa and Hannukah, which are minority faith-holidays in this country, receive a grand celebratory party at our school while other minority holidays don't? It's a touchy subject and hard to address without offending people.
Please don't say it's because we're a judeo-christian country and majority rules because then why does our school make a big deal about kwanzaa? Besides, should minority folks be made to feel like a minority among the majority? I'm really confused about all this. Not sure how to explain this to DC who is starting to wonder why his holiday doesn't get the same attention as other holidays. |
Anonymous
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Is your child Muslim? And doesn't Ramadan fall around the same time? If so, i agree with you. I think it is an oversight. The whole thing is distorting anyway, I'm Jewish and while its clear to my children that we don't celebrate Christmas, they've never even asked about a tree or Santa Claus, we still have a lot of pressure to make Chanuka a bigger deal than it is because of Christmas.
But I digress. We are not a judeo-Christian country, we are a country unidentified with any particular religion. Our culture tends to be Christian (and not Judeo-Christian) but that doesn't mean that this is a Christian country. I don't mind if private schools celebrate whatever they want to celebrate, the first amendment doesn't apply to them. But there is no excuse for public schools excluding or favoring any faiths. |
Anonymous
| All the private schools seem to make a big deal of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. It seems the Jewish community has at least embraced Hanukkah. My African American friends on the other hand claim they have no idea what this is about and have never celebrated it. Can anyone shed any light? And if no one is celebrating Kwanzaa, then why aren't the schools making a bigger deal of Ramadan and Diwali which after all are celebrated by millions of people all over the world? And most independent schools have at least a few Hindu and Muslim kids. If one is going to pick something out of a hat... why Kwanzaa? |
Anonymous
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The holiday season is ignorance and PC running amok. At our former school, Christmas was a dirty word and everything was celebrated except for Christmas. No signs of Christianity anywhere. Holidays that no one knew about were recognized.
Our new school has an Episcopal background and thus there are Christmas decorations but many decorations that simply symbolize December. Chapel service appeals to all denominations. Somewhat of a focus on Christianity but a broad appeal to all which is nice. Seems to be less of a religious focus overall. |
Anonymous
| Also, why lump everything together. Last year, our preschool did Diwali in December! Diwali is NEVER in December. It is not a winter festival. October or November is when it is celebrated depending on the lunar calendar. |
Anonymous
| Perhaps your school would be interested in adding a couple more celebrations: one for harvest festivals, one for springtime festivals. |
Anonymous
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OP,
This approach is very common. So too is pretending these holidays do not exist. So, every school is different. I'm not clear what you would like done differently. Would you like another holiday or two to receive more attention. I agree it's a touchy subject. |
Anonymous
| We are AA and don't celebrate Kwaanza. We think it's ridiculous -- and of dubious cultural significance. None of our friends celebrate it either. |
Anonymous
| My mom was Catholic and dad was Jewish. We were raised Catholic. I guess I always wondered why the majority of the population -- Christians -- have to almost apologize for celebrating Christmas. |
Anonymous
| At my DD's private school, there have been celebrations in the fall for Eid and Diwali. Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwaanza are all lumped into one celebration. |
Anonymous
| My friend is AA and she celebrates Kwanzaa at home with her children so ... |
Anonymous
Would love to know which school celebrates Eid and Diwali. |
Anonymous
| The director at my daughters school sent an email asking how each family celebrated at home so they could tailor the classroom celebration around it. I think that's a great approach. |
Anonymous
Everyone is into this "all religions are equal" bull until the subject of Aztec human sacrifice comes up. Then everyone gets all judgemental. |
Anonymous
| LOL!!! |