Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I dressed up every Halloween of my school years, I think from 1st grade through senior year. It was allowed in every school I went to. Is it really being changed to avoid offending non-pagans?
My daughter’s K-3 elementary school allowed costumes at the end of the day, but her 4-5 school did not. They said that costumes had become too distracting and had started to become inappropriate at that age. However, they still had Halloween parties and called it Halloween, and kids were allowed to come in with crazy hairdos. She’s in middle school now, and hasn’t mentioned anything about Halloween at school, so I assume costumes are still not allowed.
My middle-school didn’t allow costumes, either. This was ca. 1993-95. We even started a petition going in the cafeteria but no dice.
Hallowe’en is pretty much all Christian (beyond a bit of ahistorical co-opting by modern pagans), so the ban is rather unsuccessful as a slap at paganism. (Are you not in favor of separation of church and state? 
)
Now, THAT, is a healthy return to paganism (although early Judaism also celebrated a harvest festival).
Here’s a blog post on the National Post website talking about the Toronto District School Board’s reasoning behind their decision, along with commentary on why it’s ridiculous. Sounds like it’s the same story that Leaffan mentioned in the OP.
I remember now, we didn’t wear our costumes to school, but we always had a Halloween Carnival. You’d wear your costume to that and do all the little goofy booths and the bake sale and everything. I guess those are gone, huh?
One of the things I really like about my daughters’ school principal (private school) was the calmness with which she took a couple families’ challenging of Halloween celebrations. She simply advised those families that the school’s tradition of having a costumed parade for the little ones, an assembly with Halloween songs, and class parties was not going to change, and that if they felt strongly that their children should not be exposed to it, they should keep them home that day. Period.
Actually my story comes from the Ottawa school board, where I live. Same crappola though.
ETA: No reasons given that I’m aware of. I was following the story on news radio, but I’ll see if the papers have anything mañana.
To be fair, I was a student in the Toronto Board of Education (as it was known then) schools in the 60s and 70s, and I don’t recall ever dressing up for Hallowe’en at school. But we’d have fun with Hallowe’en artwork (construction-paper cutout pumpkins and such) and spooky music; and of course, the day after, every kid would come to school with plenty of candy. Still, this policy of the TDSB’s seems … well, designed to promote a culture of blandness.
It sounds to me like they’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. True, the National Post can, at times, be so far to the right as to make George W. Bush look like a bleeding-heart lefty; but the attribution of the lack of hard data on Wiccan students to a TDSB official, as well as an overuse of “can” and “some students” in larger quotations makes me think that these quotes are accurate. In addition, the phrase “can come into conflict with,” as used a few times in the quotes by the TDSB, does not mean “comes into conflict with.” If these are indeed direct quotes and attributions of officials of the TDSB and the editorializing is ignored (though it is fun to read), then I’m left thinking this is the work of a group of TDSB busybodies who are convinced they know best even if they have no clue. Which, having been a student of the TBE in the 60s and 70s and a taxpaying voter in Toronto in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, doesn’t surprise me. Elected positions at the TDSB don’t, in my memory, tend to attract candidates who are truly interested in the education of your child.
The scary part (and as all kids know, any Hallowe’en story has to have a scary part, right?) is that these people have the power to make their wishes happen. Looks like they have.
At this point I am all for school vouchers. Let the idiots withdraw from school and send their kids to the local Baptist Madrassa where there’s no evolution, no halloween, the earth is 6,000 years old, and they spend all day saying pledges to Reagan, Jesus, and the Flag. It’ll free up space in the good colleges when it’s time for my kids to apply.
I seriously doubt that Reagan-loving Baptists are behind the exclusion of Halloween in Toronto or Ottawa.
I love Halloween. Really really. But I have no issues at all with our elementary school’s ban of costumes. Nor of their ban on candy and birthday celebrations. You know why? Because we do gobs of that stuff in non-school hours. Why can’t school be about learning?
You are making me feel all fuddy-duddy.
Outside Buffalo, my daughter (grade 3) is allowed to take her costume to school and change into it after lunch for their party. No “accessories” are allowed – no weapons, brooms, bats, etc. My son in grade 6 is not allowed to wear any coustume to school in middle school/high school.
They have “winter parties” right before the holiday break, and an Easter party as well.
Please tell me you have a Hawaiian print doublet! If you don’t, you really need one.
I’m sure reasons vary by district. In ours and in our last one, the official reason was that costumes are too much of a distraction and we need to focus on learnin’ stuff.
Several teachers told me privately, however, that it’s a money thing - some of the poorest students can’t afford a good costume, and there was worry of harassment and/or actual violence as a result. The district we’re in now has students who literally don’t have money for food at home. Ever wonder why CPS schools NEVER have snow days? Because a good number of their student eat only at school through the school breakfast and lunch program. So I believe that their families really can’t afford anything at all in the way of a costume, much less the cool $30 Ninja Pirate from the store.
It’s not “political correctness,” it’s Christian fundamentalists complaining about Paganism and Satanism.
Because , as they used to say in 1974, " Only The Lord Saves More Than Bernie Parent !! "
( That is a fairly sacriligious statement, and no offense is intended. There really were bumper stickers and such that said that during the hayday of The Philadelphia Flyers. )
Cartooniverse
Here the kids have the week off in order to have time to steal tires and pallets for the bonfires.
As a former public school teacher (4th grade) I can see some sensible reasons for shutting this down. First, it’s a lost day. Kids are so keyed up and hyper, there are fights (You copied my costume! You’re too poor to have a costume! Hey, I’m a nerd/slut/homo so I dressed up like Sally!). In the high-stakes testing environment we’re in, it’s a wasted day where you play crowd control instead of teach.
At least this year it’s a Friday. If it’s the middle of the week kids come to school with bags of candy, and invariably one is stolen. Sugar-fueled mayhem for the day.
I remember having a parade as a third-grader and some dress up in elementary (late 70s/early 80s) but costumes in middle and high school were lame as hell. We dressed up on the last day of school, usually in ugly-ass H-E-B shirts. Or those “Fuck Everything” shirts until a teacher caught you and you had to wear it inside out.
Hah! I haven’t seen that sticker. But my oh my was Bernie ever a great goalie in the day.
We have “Fall Festival” at our elementary school. The kids dress up in their costumes, parade around the field and then have classroom parties. But it’s a Fall Festival, NOT a Halloween party. :rolleyes:
When I was a kid back in the 70s, we wore our costumes to school, paraded through the neighborhood and had a party that lasted all afternoon. Same with Christmas. No Christmas parties/Winter parties at my daughter’s elementary school.