Parent who had learned about this.
I’d ask my kid what kind of shitstorm came out of it.
Who would raise an eyebrow if this kid had come to school dressed as Stalin? Idi Amin? Pol Pot? Actually they might, because they’d probably be wondering “Who are you supposed to be?”
The thing is, Hitler is demonized the way that the word “nigger” is demonized. Both deserve scorn for what they represent (genocide and human subjugation, respectively), but both got swept up in a nth-level unpeakable zeitgeist that gives these things additional power that they didn’t have before (which is kind of the opposite of what we want, right?)
If I were the parent, I’d try to steer the child away from it not because it’s inherently wrong, but because it would stir up a shitstorm and the school is probably the one — whichever decision they make — who is going to lose in the end.
I am, as always, shocked by how much people apparently care about stuff like this. Hitler for Halloween? So what? Fer cryin’ out loud, it’s a damn costume! Nobody’s getting hurt, and, I dunno about you guys, but at my school, nobody’s gonna go beating people up over their costumes, so the whole ‘I’m doing it for his own good’ argument falls short to me. Kids don’t get all offenderati like their parents apparently do.
Hitler is certainly not a historic figure , he’s a current, modern influence in many, many anti-semitic groups around this country. (Anyone ever been to Venice, CA? I’ve been given Skinhead propaganda twice in my ten visits, and this was when I was parking my car.)
Dressing like Hitler is not just offensive, it could be viewed as showing support for your local Aryan shit heads.
The parents deserve an ass-chewing, maybe a search warrant to see how many Nazi flags are in their living room. Sick, sick, sick.
Which is why the kid would get bounced from my room instantly. The default would be that he is an Aryan, and I have less-than-zero tolerance for that shit in my classroom. If the kid honestly didn’t think of that, then he should be suspended for being too fucking stoopid!
But Political Correctness is the ONLY reason not to dress like Hitler. Political Correctness (Known as etiquette in more civilized times) is specifically for all the things you described.
You seem hell bent on arguing that there is nothing wrong with dressing as Hitler for a costume. That is not what the OP asked. If you honestly think there is nothing wrong with a 14 yr old kid wearing it TO SCHOOL, well you’re entitled to your opinion.
As I, CK, and others have pointed out, it is the context and location that makes this inappropriate. Change the word “appropriate” to “disruptive.” Would it be disruptive for a 14 yr old to show up AT SCHOOL dressed like Hitler? Of course it is, and in that kind of environment it is the duty of teachers and administrators to remove the disruptive element.
I said up thread I couldn’t find anything funny about dressing as Hitler. I stand corrected. Zombie Hitler with a bullet hole in his head is pretty funny.
When is the OP going to come back and tell us the details of what actually happened?
I may be one of the least “politically correct” people around, and I’m certainly not a fan of bureaucracy, but people–this is what policy is for.
If the school allows kids to dress as devils, demons, mass-murderers, rapists, pirates, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Ghengis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Jack the Ripper, and so forth, then they should allow Hitler, too.
I understand that location is everything. If there’s an active neo-Nazi movement in that town, then set a policy prohibiting swastikas and other white supremacist symbols in the school. If the kid shows up as Hitler, you have a clear-cut reason to send him home.
Some of the costumes I can remember kids wearing when I was in high school include Heinrich Himmler (probably more racist even than Hitler himself), Torquemada, the Marquis de Sade, and Charles Manson. None of them were sent home.
Can this really be the first time in the history of that school that someone’s worn an “inappropriate” costume? The first time that anyone in administration has ever thought there might be a potential problem? If they have no policy in place, it’s their own fault, and they should not punish the student.
I had a difficult childhood at age 11 till 15, because I didn’t always speak “American English” (Y’all:)). I now speak just like you, because it was “forced” on me.
When we first arrived in the States in 1960, I spoke English with a very heavy (and some say arrogant) German accent, and this caused me all kinds of trouble with my school-mates.
I was called “Adolf”, “Nazi” (remember, this was 1960!) and swastikas were painted on my books, and one Halloween, spray-painted on the side of my house.
Being “German-American”, I had “trouble” deciding which one of my countries did the worst to other people: America with the slavery, or Germany with what they did to the Jews.
Because I still have such strong ties to my homeland, I chose the latter, but did my best to understand the former.
I finally came to the conclusion that none of us are innocent, and we **all **need to embrace and “own” the guilt of hurting our brothers and sisters.
This is why I chose to go with C K’s decision: if it hurts or has the capacity to hurt, then don’t do it.
It was totally appropriate at the time. Ridicule is a perfectly valid response to monsters (I know you know this GuanoLad ,not aimed at you). I suppose that some people dress up as Nazis because they agree with the ideology, others respond by reducing evil filth to caricature - it’s a Fuck You statement. No idea about this kid, obviously, but if it was in the spirit of this WWII ditty
*Hitler has only got one ball,
Goering has two but very small,
Himmler is something similar,
and Goebells has no balls at all *
Unsurprisingly, you’re wrong. Your argument is akin to saying, “If the principal is carrying a $20 bill with a picture of a mass-murderer in his pocket, he has no grounds on which to object to a kid wearing a ‘Kill Injuns’ t-shirt.” It’s a ridiculous, stupid, and “oh, look at me, what a brave intellectual maverick!” argument I am. Sarah Palin wouldn’t use it, it’s so dumb.
If he dressed as Freddy in Friday the 13th movies would you think his parents are killing teenagers? I would ignore it. He may be daring someone to start trouble over a costume. I would not give the satisfaction.