Thread: No Halloween Party allowed....

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My kids just started Pre K this year and I had been looking forward to them being able to dress up for their school party. I was informed by one of the teachers that they are not allowed to have Halloween parties, only "Harvest Parties" I asked what was with that, she said the local churches do not want the school encouraging kids to celebrate this evil holiday. Some groups just have to ruin the fun for everyone. I wonder if the school would let the parents vote on this ? I for one think letting kids be kids and allowing them the fun of dressing up and TOTing is an innocence right of passage .

Since when do the "local churches" run the show?! That crap was tried here when my kids were in elementary school and the parents (and kids) went to school in costume and made it clear that they were celebrating Halloween! I know it's easy for me to say, but I would send my kids to the Pre-K in costume and let the spineless teacher(s) know why. Sorry for the rant - stuff like this really gets me upset.

"Evil holiday" - I sure hope none of my kids teachers ever say that to me.

I totally agree with what you are saying. I find it unsettling that they can make the rules for people who do not choose to share their view points. Not everyone thinks halloween is evil and not everyone is a church goer.

Same thing where I live ... Fall Festivals, Harvest Parties, yes. Halloween ... NO WAY!

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

You can always claim that the costumes are part of your religion. If the school officials try to force your kids to remove them, you have a Free Exercise infringement to pursue. It's worked with student-owned crucifixes, Bibles, and headscarves.

Where I'm at, Halloween celebrations have been forbidden for at least 20 years in most of the major school districts because of the religious zelots. Leave it to a few stick-up-the-butt extremists to ruin a holiday that THEY probably celebrated when they were kids...

Considering the fact that there is supposed to be separation of church and state, it's very disturbing to say the least that they can outlaw a non-secular holiday, but Christmas is still full-on celebrated in public schools.

I know I'm going to get some backlash for this, but I'm studying to be a teacher, my mother was a teacher, and both of my grandmothers were teachers. I have a little background and experience in this. Nothing sucks more than having to sit in the hallway or library because your family won't let you celebrate Halloween. Nothing sucks more, at that age, than having the other students in the class taunt you and think your family is weird for not celebrating Halloween. I'm completely ok with celebrating Halloween, but I don't think that it should be allowed in schools, UNLESS you are going to celebrate every single holiday...which isn't impossible. Each holiday doesn't require costumes like Halloween, even simple discussions and interactive lessons about the holiday will suffice. I'm all for Halloween, but not everyone is. That's their choice, and I don't think that we should punish kids who come from strict, often hardcore religious, homes just because the majority of the class does celebrate the holiday. That's why we have things such as Harvest Parties and Fall Festivals. So everyone gets to participate.

Most of the schools around here do celebrate Halloween, but they also celebrate Easter, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc. All holidays is what I'm all for.

I hope I didn't offend anyway. I just think people get upset before they think things through.

Originally Posted by paigebeasley

I know I'm going to get some backlash for this, but. . .

Interesting point of view. I like the parties, but I respect your opinion. No offense taken here.

And all this time I thought there was separation between church and state....

paigebeasley it's interesting hearing it from a teacher's perspective, glad you shared it. What get's me is that they want it both ways, absolutely nothing to do with Halloween, but anything Xmas is fine. Plus, they only recently started acknowledging Kwanza & Chanukah because it was pointed out how unfair it is that one holiday dominated the calendar.

I agree it is tough to celebrate everything, but Halloween shouldn't get the short shrift just because one group decides it goes against their views. Our parties are always in the last hour of school; have the parents take the kid home if they're that bent out of shape about it.