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.

Not common.

Good thing you can have fun outside of school, so this is hardly a big deal.

[Anonymous]

If a big part of the community doesn't do Halloween, this sounds like the perfect solution. Kids can still dress up and have fun, but there's a tie-in to school. What's the problem here? Just about every non-generic costume (e.g., sheet over your head as ghost) can relate to a book, anyway. All of those princesses were stories. Half the kids are Harry Potter characters. This year, my kid wants to be a generic Victorian person. But if I went to your school, I'd have her do some research on a book character who dresses that way (there are many).

[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.

You're fuming? Please consider how fortunate you are that this is what has you angry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shut up, OP. Your kids can still dress up for Halloween and go trick or treating. Dressing up for school and having a parade is a huge distraction. I'd rather my kids be learning.

Giving kids things to anticipate is good for them. It doesn't have to be a Halloween party.

It's why they like the odd snow day, too. Of course, there are parents who bemoan those, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Our school did a survey, actually. A critical mass of parents said that they would keep their child home rather than send them to school when Halloween is being celebrated. Although my kids LOVE Halloween, their "right" to dress up in school does not supercede the actual right of another child to get an education.

For what it is worth, I grew up in a completely different part of the United States and we did not have Halloween in schools for the same reason. Enough parents objected, and said they would not allow their child to attend, and the school district determined that it would be better to disappoint some families than to lose an instructional day for a bunch of kids.

I'm curious where that was -- do you mind sharing?
I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween at schools, but I have found it to be one of the nicest things about my kids' ES.
It is the one holiday that it seems like the whole community gets behind -- the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians -- everyone is all in for the annual parade around the block near the school and the class parties afterward (which all take up only 2 hours of the day, one day a year -- one of 2 class parties for the year, with the other being Valentine's Day). Yes, the kids go ToT at night, but most kids can't really go in huge friend groups -- it's just not practical -- so the Halloween parade and party is a really nice opportunity for them to celebrate with all their friends and share their costumes with them. Halloween is such a nice way for kids to share a little of their personality -- from the kid that wants the edgy vampire costume to the kid that wants the classic princess to the kid that wants the obscure D&D character. It's way more creative, inclusive and individual than the stupid "crazy hair" days or "sports team" days. For a lot of kids, Halloween is the day to let their true flags fly (maybe that's why some people don't like it!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a big part of the community doesn't do Halloween, this sounds like the perfect solution. Kids can still dress up and have fun, but there's a tie-in to school. What's the problem here? Just about every non-generic costume (e.g., sheet over your head as ghost) can relate to a book, anyway. All of those princesses were stories. Half the kids are Harry Potter characters. This year, my kid wants to be a generic Victorian person. But if I went to your school, I'd have her do some research on a book character who dresses that way (there are many).

To be fair, there are a lot of generic Victorian people in Victorian novels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not about equity, it's about inclusion, which is a very worthy goal. When our elementary school stopped celebrating Halloween a few years ago because we have a growing Central American population with many parents that objected to their children participating in Halloween (along with our growing observant Jewish population), a bunch of parents who claim to like sending their kids to a diverse school were upset that their children wouldn't have Halloween (never mind that they got to dress up and go trick or treating at night, and the school still had a party, but it was a Fall Festival instead). "Can't they just have a separate party for those kids?" they asked on the listserv, even giving suggestions for the types of activities they could have at their separate, non-Halloween party. Sure, they could, but they would be with kids from other grades/classes who were not their friends. Why not have a classroom party that everyone can participate in together?

This is a really good point, and something I've seen a lot at our diverse local elementary school. Every year you have a new "crop" of nice white parents who are very proud to be sending their kids to a school that is global majority. Every year, they start trying to change the school basically immediately because the reality of attending a culturally and racially diverse school isn't exactly what they thought it would be. The first freak out of the year is usually either because the snacks other parents send in are not "healthy" or because the school does not celebrate Halloween.

It's like clockwork. Enroll, brag on social media about how you are choosing your local public school, post a bunch of photos of Imogene with her new multicultral friends, and then immediately begin trying to change the school to be more like a less diverse school. There's no "learning period" where they observe the school and ask questions, just immediately moving to complaining and petitions. If they bothered to ask, they'd know that the school does periodic parent surveys around Halloween and consistently finds that holding a Halloween celebration would result in kids being kept home.

[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.

Its only a JOY for kids who can participate. Its only a JOY for kids who can eat candy. Its only a JOY for kids who can enJOY it.

Celebrate at HOME. Theres nothing wrong with having a fall party instead of Halloween at school. NOTHING. Have a Halloween party at home if you are so enthralled with this holiday.

[Anonymous]

Lack of school Halloween parties nothing new at some schools. My son was at Fox Chapel 6 years ago and they never had any school parties. The kids survived

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry but I thought equity and equality and diversity including embracing and celebrating all walks of life and culture. Never have I understood it to mean abandoning American culture at least when it comes to Halloween.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Only a progressive would stop 98% of people who want something for the 2% who don't. This is just like the trans issue. We shouldn't change language (or anything else) for 0.02% of the population.

Please decide whether you're complaining about 2 people in 100 or 2 people in 10,000.

[Anonymous]

If full-on Halloween costumes were allowed at school, I'd probably have to keep my kid home (K) because she's terrified of creepy masks and scary costumes. Her school is doing career-themed dress up for those who want to participate in the parade. None of this is new, though - back when I was in ES in the 90s we did Storybook Character Day for Halloween.

[Anonymous]

I went to school in an area with lots of conservative fundies / evangelicals and we also couldn't have anything Halloween at school because "it's satanic." Still had fun trick or treating.

[Anonymous]

Having the schools take responsibility for Halloween was useful for those of us parents who found taking our child ToT to be anxiety-inducing events because of so many masked children, the crowds, and the time commitment. My child could participate in the holiday and I wouldn’t be subjected to the tortuous stress. Now I have to decide whether it is worth my emotional health to venture out with DD. I wish the schools would consider that before deciding to cancel something that was so helpful. I wish those of you so callously dismissing the decisions as NBD would think of someone other than yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having the schools take responsibility for Halloween was useful for those of us parents who found taking our child ToT to be anxiety-inducing events because of so many masked children, the crowds, and the time commitment. My child could participate in the holiday and I wouldn’t be subjected to the tortuous stress. Now I have to decide whether it is worth my emotional health to venture out with DD. I wish the schools would consider that before deciding to cancel something that was so helpful. I wish those of you so callously dismissing the decisions as NBD would think of someone other than yourself.

Damn you, Poe's Law.