Killjoys cancelling Halloween--is this the new normal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just heard that my kids elementary school is not doing Halloween in the name of equity. Some families don't celebrate and they wanted to be inclusive. Instead it will be "dress like your favorite book character day" but no ghosts, ghouls, vampires, or dementors allowed. No parade or Halloween-themes crafts. I'm wondering if this is widespread throughout the county or if our school principal is uniquely anti-fun.

Your ES is there to educate your children not host superspreader events for your convenience.

[Anonymous]

It's been this way in my district for many years. There is a storybook character parade and most classrooms might have a holiday snack that day.

[Anonymous]

My kids were at two different MCPS schools. One did Halloween in a big way during school (costumes, party, parade0, and the other did a fall party during school. The school that did the fall party had a friday evening Halloween party with costumes.

Both were fun! Now my kids are in middle school, and they have a fall party.

[Anonymous]

Oh yay, things are getting back to normal, people are extremely extremely extremely upset that their child's public school will not have an official Halloween celebration, which basically means that American society and culture is dead and the terrorists have won, or something.

[Anonymous]

It’s not equity like the poors don’t want it. It’s equity like some Christians and Jehovah’s Witness dont want it.

Equity is the wrong word here.

[Anonymous]

Halloween is the evening of October 31st. Your public school did not “cancel Halloween.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just heard that my kids elementary school is not doing Halloween in the name of equity. Some families don't celebrate and they wanted to be inclusive. Instead it will be "dress like your favorite book character day" but no ghosts, ghouls, vampires, or dementors allowed. No parade or Halloween-themes crafts. I'm wondering if this is widespread throughout the county or if our school principal is uniquely anti-fun.

Your ES is there to educate your children not host superspreader events for your convenience.

What are you smoking? Our school is having an outdoor parade through the neighborhood which parents are allowed to attend masked and spaced out. How is that a super spreader event?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the anti-culture wars. Apparently we aren’t allowed to have a dominant culture anymore because of equity. I don’t think the woke left realizes there will be nothing left to bring people together if all we do is cancel everything.

Huh, so my schools in rural NC that didn't celebrate Halloween because of all the Christians who objected were part of the "woke left"? They'll be surprised to hear that

Ha. But this raises a good point. It's a problem to cancel it because of the Christians for the same reason it's a problem to cancel it because of the woke left. I just posted this in the other thread on this but pasting here as well:

As someone who is VERY concerned about equity, this cancelling Halloween business really pisses me off. It gives actual, important equity measures a bad name while eliminating one of the few remaining, old-fashioned joys of American childhood.

If there's an actual concern about equity, I would recommend that the kids be allowed to make costumes in school as part of art class OR that the PTA send around a note encouraging home made costumes and providing some helpful links to things that can be made from simple articles in the home OR that the school counselor host a halloween closet (as they sometimes do for food or winter coats) to which families can donate costumes and kids in need of costumes can come pick one out, on the DL if they prefer.

As for the religion question: The fact that some people have a religious issue with Halloween doesn't mean it should be cancelled for everyone, full stop. Doing so creates a very troubling precedent. Halloween as it's practiced today is simply not a religious holiday, full stop. I realize that it may still be a bridge too far for some people who have extreme religious beliefs, and it's absolutely appropriate that they be allowed to sit out things that make them uncomfortable. It is NOT appropriate for there discomfort to lead to the cancellation of those things for everyone else. I don't care if we're talking about sex ed, or the teaching of evolution, or, yes, Halloween. We simply cannot be a thriving, vital, pluralistic democracy if we put an end to everything that someone has a problem with.

It's actually okay not to celebrate a non-educational holiday if a large number of students aren't comfortable with it. To compare that to teaching sex ed is ridiculous. Your argument actually sounds exactly like the argument made at my schools for celebrating Christmas ("the one Jewish kid can just sit out! Why should his objection keep us from having what we want!").

Our school had 20% of students miss school on the day of the Halloween celebration, so we cancelled it. That makes sense and is no way a threat to pluralistic democracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just heard that my kids elementary school is not doing Halloween in the name of equity. Some families don't celebrate and they wanted to be inclusive. Instead it will be "dress like your favorite book character day" but no ghosts, ghouls, vampires, or dementors allowed. No parade or Halloween-themes crafts. I'm wondering if this is widespread throughout the county or if our school principal is uniquely anti-fun.

Wonder if we go to the same school. I just got the same email and I’m fuming. It’s ridiculous. The principal banned GHOSTS but student can wear Harry Potter costumes.

Every ES principal emails their community at 7 pm on Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Terrible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Halloween is the evening of October 31st. Your public school did not “cancel Halloween.”

BS. For many decades it has been the practice of American public schools to celebrate Halloween in some fashion. When Halloween falls on a weekend they do it on a Friday. You know that, and everyone else does too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the anti-culture wars. Apparently we aren’t allowed to have a dominant culture anymore because of equity. I don’t think the woke left realizes there will be nothing left to bring people together if all we do is cancel everything.

Huh, so my schools in rural NC that didn't celebrate Halloween because of all the Christians who objected were part of the "woke left"? They'll be surprised to hear that

My Christian neighbor did not allow me to show Harry Potter to his kids on a sleepover because of "Magic and Witches". I am non-Christian immigrant. I embrace and participate in my own culture and American culture wholeheartedly. It is the right wing fundamentalists who throw a fit when things don't fit their viewpoint.

I am the room parent who will organize the Fall Festival parties (instead of calling it Halloween) in school because the school will be in trouble if the teachers organize anything. I also organize costume making parties for kids so that no one need to spend any money. And yes, usually the costumes are all the characters from favorite books because I don't want kids to dress up as celebrities, magic things, reality TV stars or GOD FORBID - any religious figure from any religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the anti-culture wars. Apparently we aren’t allowed to have a dominant culture anymore because of equity. I don’t think the woke left realizes there will be nothing left to bring people together if all we do is cancel everything.

Huh, so my schools in rural NC that didn't celebrate Halloween because of all the Christians who objected were part of the "woke left"? They'll be surprised to hear that

Ha. But this raises a good point. It's a problem to cancel it because of the Christians for the same reason it's a problem to cancel it because of the woke left. I just posted this in the other thread on this but pasting here as well:

As someone who is VERY concerned about equity, this cancelling Halloween business really pisses me off. It gives actual, important equity measures a bad name while eliminating one of the few remaining, old-fashioned joys of American childhood.

If there's an actual concern about equity, I would recommend that the kids be allowed to make costumes in school as part of art class OR that the PTA send around a note encouraging home made costumes and providing some helpful links to things that can be made from simple articles in the home OR that the school counselor host a halloween closet (as they sometimes do for food or winter coats) to which families can donate costumes and kids in need of costumes can come pick one out, on the DL if they prefer.

As for the religion question: The fact that some people have a religious issue with Halloween doesn't mean it should be cancelled for everyone, full stop. Doing so creates a very troubling precedent. Halloween as it's practiced today is simply not a religious holiday, full stop. I realize that it may still be a bridge too far for some people who have extreme religious beliefs, and it's absolutely appropriate that they be allowed to sit out things that make them uncomfortable. It is NOT appropriate for there discomfort to lead to the cancellation of those things for everyone else. I don't care if we're talking about sex ed, or the teaching of evolution, or, yes, Halloween. We simply cannot be a thriving, vital, pluralistic democracy if we put an end to everything that someone has a problem with.

It's actually okay not to celebrate a non-educational holiday if a large number of students aren't comfortable with it. To compare that to teaching sex ed is ridiculous. Your argument actually sounds exactly like the argument made at my schools for celebrating Christmas ("the one Jewish kid can just sit out! Why should his objection keep us from having what we want!").

Our school had 20% of students miss school on the day of the Halloween celebration, so we cancelled it. That makes sense and is no way a threat to pluralistic democracy.

It's not an either/or. Do an optional after school event. Not fair for 80% of kids to miss out on something 20% don't want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the anti-culture wars. Apparently we aren’t allowed to have a dominant culture anymore because of equity. I don’t think the woke left realizes there will be nothing left to bring people together if all we do is cancel everything.

Huh, so my schools in rural NC that didn't celebrate Halloween because of all the Christians who objected were part of the "woke left"? They'll be surprised to hear that

My Christian neighbor did not allow me to show Harry Potter to his kids on a sleepover because of "Magic and Witches". I am non-Christian immigrant. I embrace and participate in my own culture and American culture wholeheartedly. It is the right wing fundamentalists who throw a fit when things don't fit their viewpoint.

I am the room parent who will organize the Fall Festival parties (instead of calling it Halloween) in school because the school will be in trouble if the teachers organize anything. I also organize costume making parties for kids so that no one need to spend any money. And yes, usually the costumes are all the characters from favorite books because I don't want kids to dress up as celebrities, magic things, reality TV stars or GOD FORBID - any religious figure from any religion.

You are a fabulous person. (Seriously.) We all should be more like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Halloween is the evening of October 31st. Your public school did not “cancel Halloween.”

BS. For many decades it has been the practice of American public schools to celebrate Halloween in some fashion. When Halloween falls on a weekend they do it on a Friday. You know that, and everyone else does too.

DP. No, really. Halloween will still be on October 31, and kids can still go trick-or-treating (if their parents allow it and don't make them go to some "trunk-or-treat" event in a parking lot instead).

For many decades it was also the practice of American public schools to celebrate Christmas in some fashion, but now that's much less common. Christmas has nonetheless somehow managed to maintain itself on December 25.