Killjoys cancelling Halloween--is this the new normal?

[Anonymous]

Yes, your principal is anti-fun because they're... having a big party and themed costumes.

[Anonymous]

Uff...get over it. It is called Fall Festival or Harvest Festival in most ES in MCPS most years. Lots of pumpkins and bales of hay all over the place. This year, if it is cancelled it could be because of COVID that people are extra careful.

Why don't all of you parents who are having such a tough time with Halloween being cancelled , get masks that are like the face of cartoons or other characters and make your kids wear it to school? You can have halloween everyday for as long as the pandemic is raging.

[Anonymous]

[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.

In trouble with who? MCPS?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

You "do" Halloween at home. It's fine, lots of conservative Christians hate Halloween, so it's not surprise the school isn't doing anything.

[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

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.

In trouble with who? MCPS?

With hardcore Christian parents who are anti-Halloween. They consider it a pagan holiday and believes that the kids should not be exposed to the idea that other magical beings (ghosts, witches, vampires) that exist, because that will shake their faith from Jesus, Holy Ghost, and God.

[Anonymous]

They call it equity but it's BS. It's when well-meaning people decide to speak for the "marginalized" instead of actually giving them a voice. Very few, if any, of the non-celebrants' families object to OTHERS celebrating Halloween. But it's a lot easier to make them the scapegoats than to dismantle the barriers to their participation in school level decisions and include them in that arena.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I dunno. I'm 43 and never celebrated Christmas in any fashion in public school. This seems like a strawman argument. Halloween is really not a religious holiday, and in fact it's one of the few distinctively American shared secular rituals we have. I'm less worried about Halloween's survival than I am about kids having fun and growing up with the sense that they are in some way a part of a shared culture. We are losing that in this country and you can see the results all around us. It's a troublesome trend. (And no I am not conservative; I'm as liberal as they come).

+1 million to all of this. And I am the PP who is an immigrant (and not Christian, FWIW).

And, with the influx of immigrants, this idea of having kids grow up with a ‘shared culture’ is even more important. We are definitely losing that here in the US.

Cry me a river. So your school isn’t doing any Halloween. It’s not the end of the world. Go trick or treating with your kids like everyone else. They’ll have fun, I promise.

[Anonymous]

I see Halloween as just a fun holiday. Its about getting ToT, free candies and costumes mostly. I am ok with the school doing Fall Festival.

I think the teachers don't want to do anything because they don't want to be responsible for a non-instructional activity. Besides they do not want kids pumped with more sugar in the classroom.

Let it be. Take your kid home early, dress them up, take them ToT.

[Anonymous]

My street no longer has any kids. No ToT in our neck of the woods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

In trouble with who? MCPS?

With hardcore Christian parents who are anti-Halloween. They consider it a pagan holiday and believes that the kids should not be exposed to the idea that other magical beings (ghosts, witches, vampires) that exist, because that will shake their faith from Jesus, Holy Ghost, and God.

No no no… it’s not exposing the kids to the idea of magical beings. It’s the celebration of these magical beings. (Can you tell I grew up hard core?)

[Anonymous]

My school doesn't do Halloween either I believe it's because of the Christian kids who don't celebrate

[Anonymous]

My kid trick or treats at home. The world keeps spinning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My street no longer has any kids. No ToT in our neck of the woods.

What a lonely neighborhood to raise a child in.