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Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

It is Santanic. You are wrong, you offer an alternative.

This is what we are up against. People who are ignorant yet somehow absolutely certain.

“Satanic” would mean an activity that involves worshiping the Judeo-Christian incarnation of evil.

Halloween doesn’t worship anything. It is an ancient pagan festival that was co-opted by the Christian church 1000 years ago.

Halloween is not a religious holiday at all anymore. It’s not Christian, it’s not anything. But you can’t call it Satanic unless you really believe that any holiday that’s not Christian — say, Rosh Hashanah or Diwali or Eid — is Satanic.

For some people, it is and you need to be respectful of their beliefs. Thats like saying Christmas isn't religious.

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Anonymous wrote:I do find the aversion and censoring of Halloween in MCPS elementary schools to be very odd. Getting to dress up for the day and having Halloween classroom parties was a fantastic experience for me as a kid.

It’s extremely weird.

Halloween is a big part of American culture and it’s a fun part of childhood. It’s sad that MCPS is taking that away from kids.

MCPS is preventing kids from dressing up to go trick or treating? That's terrible!

Wait, what?

Stop being purposefully obtuse.

Class Halloween parties and parades are fun and are a big part of childhood for a lot of kids.

MCPS deciding to do away with that is unfortunate.

Do you also believe that MCPS is participating in the War On Christmas by no longer having in-school Christmas parties?

For as long as I have been on this forum on DCUM, which is way too long, there have been annual complaints about how MCPS is ruining childhood by not having Halloween parties, followed by annual complaints about children ruining other children's childhood by telling them Santa isn't real.

If you want your children to celebrate Halloween in the great American tradition, you should go out with them to tip over outhouses. That's your responsibility as a parent; it's not MCPS's.

I’m Jewish, and no — I don’t think there’s any war on Christmas. I do think having parties before winter break is fun and can be done in a secular way.

But it’s ridiculous for you to think it’s a huge deal for kids to have class Halloween parties.

It’s a little bit of fun. What’s the problem?

Is it a huge deal for kids to not have class Halloween parties?

For these people who act like MCPS can’t possibly handle it — yes, it apparently is. It’s just too much to ask that these kids get a little fun at school.

Re-read, please. Is it a huge deal for kids to not have class Halloween parties?

Given that it’s a harmless bit of fun — yeah I think it’s something I’d bring up with MCPS. Kids go through a lot; they deserve to have some fun at school.

You think it's a huge deal for kids to not have class Halloween parties? Wow.

Did I say that? No.

I just think it’s stupid to stop doing it. And I don’t get why you all act like it’s ridiculous to want it back.

What's ridiculous is to make a huge deal about it.

Who’s making a huge deal about it? We’re just saying the kids should be allowed to celebrate it at school, like kids have done for decades.

I know reading comprehension is a problem for you, but the PP literally just said they are allowed to celebrate at school by wearing costumes.

Are you suggesting that they be allowed to trick or treat at school or something? You do realize that the teachers have academic subjects to teach?

Ironic that you cite reading comprehension, when you seem to have missed the posts talking about schools that don’t allow Halloween celebrations at all.

Oh, I comprehended that perfectly well. It's just that nutcases like you claim that "ant-Halloween" is some widespread thing, but over the course of 8 pages, only one school was identified. So, in short, I don't believe you.

What? I haven't read the whole thread and I count 12 (my kid is at one of these schools and FTR it is NBD to us that they are doing a fall party instead of a halloween party)

Rock Creek forest
Rock view
Oakland terrace
highland
rosemary hills
woodlin
takoma
ESS
highland view
sligo creek
glen haven
farmland

Kid at Sligo Creek. They were allowed to wear costumes yesterday and the aftercare (KidsCo) did a huge trunk or treat at the school. There is a also a fall festival/party next which they have done every year since my middle-schooler was there.
I'm not the PP but if this list is supposed to represent schools that have "banned" Halloween completely that seems like a stretch. Also sligo creek has it's annual big fundraiser run today, so also having party yesterday and then another one next week would have been completely nuts! So I'm glad there was nothing yesterday....kids mostly wanted to come home and trick or treat with their friends in the neighborhood.

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Anonymous wrote:I do find the aversion and censoring of Halloween in MCPS elementary schools to be very odd. Getting to dress up for the day and having Halloween classroom parties was a fantastic experience for me as a kid.

It’s extremely weird.

Halloween is a big part of American culture and it’s a fun part of childhood. It’s sad that MCPS is taking that away from kids.

MCPS is preventing kids from dressing up to go trick or treating? That's terrible!

Wait, what?

Stop being purposefully obtuse.

Class Halloween parties and parades are fun and are a big part of childhood for a lot of kids.

MCPS deciding to do away with that is unfortunate.

Do you also believe that MCPS is participating in the War On Christmas by no longer having in-school Christmas parties?

For as long as I have been on this forum on DCUM, which is way too long, there have been annual complaints about how MCPS is ruining childhood by not having Halloween parties, followed by annual complaints about children ruining other children's childhood by telling them Santa isn't real.

If you want your children to celebrate Halloween in the great American tradition, you should go out with them to tip over outhouses. That's your responsibility as a parent; it's not MCPS's.

I’m Jewish, and no — I don’t think there’s any war on Christmas. I do think having parties before winter break is fun and can be done in a secular way.

But it’s ridiculous for you to think it’s a huge deal for kids to have class Halloween parties.

It’s a little bit of fun. What’s the problem?

Is it a huge deal for kids to not have class Halloween parties?

For these people who act like MCPS can’t possibly handle it — yes, it apparently is. It’s just too much to ask that these kids get a little fun at school.

Do you have an Elementary-aged kid? Because if so, you'd know this statement is ridiculous. There are SO many parties! 100th day of school parties; fall festival parties; holiday parties; valentine parties; spring parties; school "spirit week" parties; school fundraiser-associated-parties; end of school year parties; and I'm probably forgetting a few. So - it's absolutely not true that Halloween is the only opportunity to "get a little fun at school." My god.

A lot of MCPS schools don’t do Valentine’s Day parties or birthday celebrations.

It seems you’re the one who’s out of touch.

Not at all. I have a current ES student and current MS (formerly ES) student in MCPS. You also missed the point of my post, entirely. The PP was whining that kids seemingly don't even get "a little fun" at school. My point is that's BS. There are plenty of other parties throughout the school year. Just because your particular school doesn't do Valentine's or birthday celebrations (and I didn't say "birthday" since most schools don't this), doesn't disprove my point that there are plenty of elementary school parties throughout the school year and kids aren't suffering from not having yet another party on October 31st.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

It is Santanic. You are wrong, you offer an alternative.

This is what we are up against. People who are ignorant yet somehow absolutely certain.

“Satanic” would mean an activity that involves worshiping the Judeo-Christian incarnation of evil.

Halloween doesn’t worship anything. It is an ancient pagan festival that was co-opted by the Christian church 1000 years ago.

Halloween is not a religious holiday at all anymore. It’s not Christian, it’s not anything. But you can’t call it Satanic unless you really believe that any holiday that’s not Christian — say, Rosh Hashanah or Diwali or Eid — is Satanic.

Oh I am so glad I jumped back into this thread.
Now we think Halloween is satanic? Who gave out the stupid with the candy last night?

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

This.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

It is Santanic. You are wrong, you offer an alternative.

This is what we are up against. People who are ignorant yet somehow absolutely certain.

“Satanic” would mean an activity that involves worshiping the Judeo-Christian incarnation of evil.

Halloween doesn’t worship anything. It is an ancient pagan festival that was co-opted by the Christian church 1000 years ago.

Halloween is not a religious holiday at all anymore. It’s not Christian, it’s not anything. But you can’t call it Satanic unless you really believe that any holiday that’s not Christian — say, Rosh Hashanah or Diwali or Eid — is Satanic.

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

It is Santanic. You are wrong, you offer an alternative.

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Anonymous wrote:Halloween is in the evening.
Yes it’s cultural but has nothing to do with education.
Keep them separate.

That's not the tradition. In our culture we dress up for school, kids and teachers. We have parades and parties. That's American culture.

I mean, it IS a satanic holiday.
But it has morphed/merged into a secular cute/fun tradition with parades and costumes and fun.

Just like Christmas was a pagan holiday that then morphed/merged into celebrating the birth of Christ….and then for many years was celebrated in schools (as long as the specifically “religious part” was left out)…we had class Christmas parties with secret Santa exchanges and stockings and sang “jingle bells” and “up on the housetop” and “deck the halls” in music class and that is no longer permitted. Today it’s “winter parties” with snowflakes and snowmen and mittens.
Times change, PP.

Do you just believe every random insane thought that pops into your head?

Explain to me how Halloween is Satanic but Easter isn't.

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

What in the Dia De Los Muertos

Anonymous wrote:What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

I'd like to live in an area where people are proud enough of their traditions to defend them instead of just canceling them at the smallest challenge. The US used to be an amazing place to live, in part because of our fun traditions like Halloween.

This is really school dependent. Our MCPS elementary had a party and parade today. Yes they don’t call it Halloween but it functionally is and everyone knows it.

What we’re really arguing about here is immigration. Schools with a significant majority of immigrants from Central America and Africa are cancelling Halloween because their families think it’s Satanic. Which is ridiculous. I work at one of these schools and I spent a lot of time today mediating discussions between kids who seemed to think their classmates were literal devil worshipers. This is a lie and we teachers should teach them otherwise.

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Anonymous wrote:I do find the aversion and censoring of Halloween in MCPS elementary schools to be very odd. Getting to dress up for the day and having Halloween classroom parties was a fantastic experience for me as a kid.

Same! And I grew up poor, so it’s not like I always had a ‘cool’ costume. It was whatever I could get my mom to help me put together.

Wish my kid’s ES allowed Halloween. But they are not allowed to even read books about it. Let along have a Halloween parade.

May this be the worst thing that ever happens to your child.

Is that your argument? Things could be worse for my kid, so I can’t express my disappointment that our ES has banned any mention of Halloween during school? Nah, sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

Expressing disappointment: I have fond memories about Halloween in school, so I am sad that my kid won't have that. Oh well. I'm looking forward to trick-or-treating tonight!

Is that what you're saying?

+1
I have a ton of cute/fond memories of Christmastime at school where our school PTA would set up a Santa’s Secret Shop in the cafeteria and we could buy inexpensive trinkets for members of our family (junky stuff ranging from 25 cents to $5–kind of like things you might find in the oriental trading catalog) And then the moms would gift wrap it for us. It was such fun to pick out a gift to give that was just from me!
As an adult, of course I realize now that there were probably a few kids in the school who didn’t celebrate Christmas (it was the Midwest) who might have felt excluded by this tradition, so it’s not a terrible thing that it no longer exists. But yes, it’s a fond memory for me that I wish my kids had.
(We also watched the Charlie Brown Christmas episode IN SCHOOL the morning of the Christmas party for at least three years in a row. And that one is very religious. Public school. Times have definitely changed.)

I grew up in another part of the country and am not Christian. We used to do this in school also, and I enjoyed it and it was a fond memory for me also. No, we didn't celebrate Christmas, but everyone was allowed to participate, so I certainly did not feel 'excluded'.

Honestly, I do think it's a terrible thing that this kind of thing doesn't exist. It was a fun, well-intentioned idea.

We don't have to get rid of everything because of 'diversity' or because someone *might* feel excluded. That's not good for anyone.

If they are banning Halloween parties because kids can't afford costumes, then keep some extra easy costumes in the counselor's office. If we're banning Valentine's parties because kids can afford Valentine's, then have parents send in extra cards to the teachers (our ES used to do this before they outright banned Valentine's day parties). Our ES also used to have a rule that ALL kids had to send valentines to ALL the other kids, so that nobody was excluded.

There are ways to make the celebrations MORE inclusive instead of banning them altogether.

-a non-Christian immigrant who has fond memories of singing Christmas carols with my ES chorus

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Anonymous wrote:I do find the aversion and censoring of Halloween in MCPS elementary schools to be very odd. Getting to dress up for the day and having Halloween classroom parties was a fantastic experience for me as a kid.

It’s extremely weird.

Halloween is a big part of American culture and it’s a fun part of childhood. It’s sad that MCPS is taking that away from kids.

MCPS is preventing kids from dressing up to go trick or treating? That's terrible!

Wait, what?

Stop being purposefully obtuse.

Class Halloween parties and parades are fun and are a big part of childhood for a lot of kids.

MCPS deciding to do away with that is unfortunate.

Do you also believe that MCPS is participating in the War On Christmas by no longer having in-school Christmas parties?

For as long as I have been on this forum on DCUM, which is way too long, there have been annual complaints about how MCPS is ruining childhood by not having Halloween parties, followed by annual complaints about children ruining other children's childhood by telling them Santa isn't real.

If you want your children to celebrate Halloween in the great American tradition, you should go out with them to tip over outhouses. That's your responsibility as a parent; it's not MCPS's.

I’m Jewish, and no — I don’t think there’s any war on Christmas. I do think having parties before winter break is fun and can be done in a secular way.

But it’s ridiculous for you to think it’s a huge deal for kids to have class Halloween parties.

It’s a little bit of fun. What’s the problem?

Is it a huge deal for kids to not have class Halloween parties?

For these people who act like MCPS can’t possibly handle it — yes, it apparently is. It’s just too much to ask that these kids get a little fun at school.

Do you have an Elementary-aged kid? Because if so, you'd know this statement is ridiculous. There are SO many parties! 100th day of school parties; fall festival parties; holiday parties; valentine parties; spring parties; school "spirit week" parties; school fundraiser-associated-parties; end of school year parties; and I'm probably forgetting a few. So - it's absolutely not true that Halloween is the only opportunity to "get a little fun at school." My god.

Depends on the school. We only had halloween and valentines Day.

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Anonymous wrote:I do find the aversion and censoring of Halloween in MCPS elementary schools to be very odd. Getting to dress up for the day and having Halloween classroom parties was a fantastic experience for me as a kid.

Same! And I grew up poor, so it’s not like I always had a ‘cool’ costume. It was whatever I could get my mom to help me put together.

Wish my kid’s ES allowed Halloween. But they are not allowed to even read books about it. Let along have a Halloween parade.

May this be the worst thing that ever happens to your child.

Is that your argument? Things could be worse for my kid, so I can’t express my disappointment that our ES has banned any mention of Halloween during school? Nah, sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

Expressing disappointment: I have fond memories about Halloween in school, so I am sad that my kid won't have that. Oh well. I'm looking forward to trick-or-treating tonight!

Is that what you're saying?

+1
I have a ton of cute/fond memories of Christmastime at school where our school PTA would set up a Santa’s Secret Shop in the cafeteria and we could buy inexpensive trinkets for members of our family (junky stuff ranging from 25 cents to $5–kind of like things you might find in the oriental trading catalog) And then the moms would gift wrap it for us. It was such fun to pick out a gift to give that was just from me!
As an adult, of course I realize now that there were probably a few kids in the school who didn’t celebrate Christmas (it was the Midwest) who might have felt excluded by this tradition, so it’s not a terrible thing that it no longer exists. But yes, it’s a fond memory for me that I wish my kids had.
(We also watched the Charlie Brown Christmas episode IN SCHOOL the morning of the Christmas party for at least three years in a row. And that one is very religious. Public school. Times have definitely changed.)

OMG memory unlocked! I had forgotten about having a smilier memory mostly because it's not really done anymore.