Which is why it really disturbs me that some public schools aren’t even allowed to celebrate Halloween anymore. According the Seattle Public School district, “costumes could offend or upset students who come from other cultures”. The pagan origins of modern Halloween can be found in the Celtic celebration of Samhain, or "End of Summer." The Celts believed that on this agricultural harvest festival the dead revisit the land of the living and communal fires were needed to ward off evil. Many feel that celebrating Halloween is somehow promoting paganism, witchcraft and the occult.
I’m not sure how dressing up as a comic book hero and knocking on doors for candy is related to paganism, but it did get me thinking. In a few weeks, we will be discussing our First Amendment rights, and the separation of church and state. Halloween isn’t the only holiday that schools have banned in the interest of not offending anyone. So my question to you this week is, “What do you think of school’s celebrating holidays? Should they celebrate all holidays, some holidays or none at all?” For an added twist, “What are your Halloween plans?” I’d love to hear what you’re dressing up as! Answers are due no later than Wednesday, November 4th, 2015. Have a happy and safe Halloween!
I think schools should celebrate most holidays. I think it helps instill the idea that family time is important which holidays enforce. I've never followed any holidays in their "real" sense, I've always viewed them as a time to spend with family and friends and take a break from the craziness that the world can be sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOn the issue of costumes offending people, I think too many people nowadays think that since they are offended by something, that means they are right. And that's not true at all. Just because something bothers you doesn't mean the other person is wrong. The most recent example I can think of was a girl dressing as Nicki Minaj and being harassed for trying to "be black" and how it was offensive. It's was a very well made costume that took time and effort, not a half-effort attempt to be funny or mean. And I know there are certain examples where that's not true and people have malicious intent but for the sake of the argument, it's usually not the case.
My plans for Halloween are to watch scary movies with my girlfriend and hand out candy to anyone who walks our street trick or treating.
I think it should be up to the parent and the child to decide. As long as the schools are not teaching anything about religion it shouldn't be a problem. i also think that the parents who don't agree with it should put there children into private school. Im thinking of dressing up as Beyonce from single ladies. Beyonce is one of my favorite artist and i think its i really easy threw together outfit.
ReplyDeletealso thinking of going out to a club for a celebrity costume contest.
DeleteThis subject, while not incredibly important to me, is somewhat relevant to my life. I'm Jewish, and so the subject of holidays, the separation of church and state, and all other relevant subjects have affected me, even if just in minor ways. In my opinion, non-religious holidays are a non-issue as far as celebration in school is concerned. At this point, Halloween is so far removed from any religious implication that it should not be an issue whether or not it is celebrated in school. As for holidays such as Christmas, I can say from firsthand experience that religious holidays feel very exclusionary to religious minorities (at least in my case). Think about it - when you're at home you practice whatever religion you choose in any way that you choose. Once you step into school on a holiday that doesn't pertain to your life (but is widely accepted and celebrated) you feel alienated. I think to avoid social alienation of students, we should take into consideration that not everybody celebrates the holiday(s) that you do.
ReplyDeletePoint being, select holidays should be celebrated. I think that religious holidays ought to be omitted. I mean, if it's so vital just celebrate at home. It's really not such an inconvenience, yet anti-PC rhetoric espousers will treat it like some sort of "war on Christmas." This concept is incredibly laughable in my opinion. As for people who would deny kids dressing up, eating candy, and having fun on a meaningless holiday like Halloween? Take that stick out of your ass and reevaluate your priorities.
Also, I don't have any big plans for Halloween. My roommate and I are horror movie junkies - especially B horror movies - so I imagine we'll watch movies and hang out with friends. I could put on a robe and say I'm a Jedi if I need a costume.
DeleteI honestly think it would be fun if schools celebrated all holidays. Kids would get to appreciate holidays that most people look over. Maybe not on a large scale, but like a yay it's a holiday, have a cookie would be fine. as for my plans I will be dressing up at work.
ReplyDeleteI believe it will be great if schools can allow children to celebrate all the different types of festivities, because it's the festive time of every culture that a person learns more about an ethnic group other than what books just talk about or what they might see and hear from other sources of media. I believe in giving everything one try, but that's just my belief. However I also believe that whether a school should celebrate all or certain holidays or none at all also depends on the corporate team of a school board. Because not every school in the world celebrate any festive season at all in school, instead they are given a day or few off from school so they can celebrate it well and fully with their families. I honestly love Halloween, I love making candy bags for kids and seeing their smile and excitement when I give them, it's a moment not to miss. Again I am open to all cultures and respect every individuals belief whether they are a U.S. Citizen or not, and I don't judge anyone on their family background. I often treat everyone with honesty, respect, and appreciation, as long as I get the same in return. Everybody is unique, whether they are religious or not and whether they are spiritual or not. Happy Halloween to all.
ReplyDeleteCelebrating holidays in schools can be a bit tricky because not all of the children have been brought up with the same beliefs. Halloween can be celebrated as the day of the dead to some children and christmas as hanukkah. I think the holidays should be recognized in schools but maybe not celebrated. You don't want to upset children with different beliefs by doing something they are not use to. As for my halloween, I will be working till 6 then coming home to hand out candy to the little cuties.
ReplyDeleteI think schools should be allowed to celebrate all holidays.
ReplyDeleteI love Halloween and I love seeing how excited kids get around Halloween. It sucked the life out of the school I work at when we were not allowed to dress up, say Halloween, pass out anything related to Halloween, and couldn't do any Halloween decorating or activities.
If a holiday is going to be present in the kids life then they should be able to celebrate it. If it's not a major holiday then give the kid the option to educate their class on the topic and let them decorate too. They could even tell the teacher that they want the teacher to talk about the holiday.
I think by being so 'considerate' to others we are shaming people into compliance. We say we are accepting everyone but I don't think that's the case. Celebrate every holiday, minorities can educate people about holidays that aren't popular to the masses and they can celebrate their holidays too.
This isn't worded the way I want it to be but I think it still gets my point across.
I was Alice from Alice in Wonderland for some parties before Halloween but on actual Halloween I was forced into bed due to having pneumonia.
When it comes to the celebration of certain Holidays I do believe it is up to the school to make that choice, but with the first amendment being in effect I also believe any child should be able to celebrate whatever holiday there parent approves of. In cases such as this it isn't up to the school to control the practice of certain individuals but it is however acceptable to not celebrate it as a educational district. People can be offended by the smallest gestures or actions so in short is really shouldn't matter who's offended by certain holiday practices unless America starts having "Satan day" then maybe it'll be all too reasonable.
ReplyDeleteIf they are going to ban schools from Halloween because it could be offensive, then they should ban all holidays. The schools I went to, and I'm sure many others, decorated and celebrated Christmas all winter long but no one seems to think that could be offensive to other cultures? Especially since no other religious holidays are recognized. I don't think the participation of any holiday should be banned to students. It takes away their freedom to express themselves and show their individuality. It should be up to the student and parents whether they can go to school dressed as batman. I feel like no matter what we do someone will be offended but banning a holiday isn't the way to fix it. But this year I dressed as Beetlejuice and had a great Halloween.
ReplyDeletei dont think holidays should be banned from schools because yes we are becoming more diverse but these are the things that America has been known for. it makes it seem like you cant be yourself in this country anymore. for Halloween I dressed up as a shaman which kinda looked like a native American but I made sure that there was nothing insulting in my costume like a feathered headdress or anything that could be taken in the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about if schools should celebrate holidays or not, and when you mentioned it possibly offending childrens' certain cultures it made be think. Honestly to me, it's seems rather harmless for schools to celebrate holidays, but I can see how it could be an issue. But I say sure because most people do celebrate the basic holidays and especially if it's a public school, you are almost always going to get a diverse crowd students.
ReplyDeleteOn Halloween I ended up going to Broad Ripple to the bar Landsharks with my sister and a few friends, it was pretty fun and there were so many people dressed up surprisingly so that made it a whole lot more fun. My costume was very last minute but it turned out awesome. I basically dressed as my regular self and just did some special fx makeup of open wounds on my face and chest, it was pretty gory but I was glammed up at the same time ha.
I honestly think it is ridiculous that schools band holidays. That was what I looked forward to when I was growing up. It meant we got candy, played games, made arts and crafts, and learned about our country. I think schools should have all holidays allowed in schools. It teaches kids what those holidays mean and why we celebrate them. If parents have a problem with a holiday then their kid and opt out. I think it is the parents that are so difficult now. They find everything offensive.
ReplyDeleteMy plans for Halloween was to probably go to my sisters house and eat all of her sons candy and play some games and have some friends over. I went as a witch and my boyfriend went as Jason Statham. It was pretty awesome and my night was really fun, I hope everyone else enjoyed their night!
I think it is disgusting that schools are becoming strict and getting butt hurt over the little things, especially banning Halloween! Growing up I loved when we had Halloween parties at school and we were able to dress up, it was some of the most memorable memories of my grade school years. I believe that all schools should celebrate all major American holidays including, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day and so on. It is a part of the American tradition.
ReplyDeleteMy plans for Halloween was to dress up as a forest witch and attended the school's Witch's Ball Friday night. Halloween night I went to a local show back at home and froze my butt off!
When it comes to schools celebrating holidays I don't think they should celebrate certain religious ones. If schools accepted all holidays then that would greatly effect the calendar, especially if it was all of them. I think they should just celebrate ones that mostly everyone celebrates and are small ones, like new years, valentines day, and 4th of July. Those are all pretty general holidays. For Halloween I just hung out with a group of friends and watched some scary movies. I didn't dress up ON Halloween but I did a week ago at a friends party as Waldo.
ReplyDeleteNice, an eight feet tall Waldo! Scarrrry!
DeleteWhen I was but a pup, we celebrated only the basic holidays, Halloween being one of them. Paganism is one the oldest religions and most of our current holidays have undertones of this religion in them, even our weddings, wedding rings were introduced by pagans. But I digress, back when I was in elementary school we didn't have to worry too much about other religions, there weren't too many people practicing other religions to be offended. And if there were, they usually didn't mind and just joined in the festivities. We in today's society tend to get "butt hurt" about everything, and anything. We are weaker than before, tend to want to cry about too much, even kids in plastic masks, and costumes that are made out of the same material as trash bags.
ReplyDeleteMe and my wife and son and her best friend all dressed as different characters from saw, we went around the neighborhood, people got a kick out of it! I have pictures, my son was definitely the star of the show.
In my opinion I think all public schools should celebrate all holidays. The students can choose whether they want to participate based on their religions or etc. For Halloween this year I dressed up as a Frida Kahlo for work and after work I went to Cincinnati to a club to celebrated Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI think that schools should celebrate all the major holidays like valentines day, thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah etc. When doing so they should also educate the children on which cultures the each belong to as well. When I was in school we did different activities catering to Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa although mostly everyone celebrated Christmas. For Halloween I think it should be noticed but maybe have a different name to it. As far as kids wearing costumes it should be if the parent wants them to participate and also have guide lines to what kind of costumes are allowed. Costume wearing should really be more of thing for middle and high school because by then you are old enough to understand your choices. Holidays to me are what makes a child be a child and have the memories once they are older.
ReplyDeleteThis year for halloween my plans were to not to do anything but I created a last minute costume of an Indian girl and still didn't really get to end up doing anything lol. My friends and I went downtown for a bit but didn't stay out long.
I think all public schools should celebrate all holidays no matter what religions it is from. Also I believe celebrate all holidays in schools will allow all students to learn about different cultures. But I agree students have the choose too participate or not based of their religion. This year for Halloween I not dressing & im going to be working.
ReplyDeleteThis is an idiotic idea that public schools should never be allowed to celebrate anything based on the possibility of someone not "agreeing" with the celebration. Everyone gets so wrapped up in whether or not someone will be offended most people tend to keep their thoughts to themselves, so I would think a majority of people who do not care if costumes should be allowed aren't speaking up about it. I think children should be able to experience the differences in society at an early age to get acclimated to other ways of life. Halloween doesn't necessarily fit here but like any other major holiday, there should be reasons to actually enjoy these days more because of the children. I don't get it! We are way too censored unless it comes to music and film, think about it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think it is ok if schools don't celebrate holidays because its not really a big deal. If there is an educational purpose that applies it mat matter more but besides that I dont think it is too much of an issue. Some schools put a lot of focus into the holidays when they could be putting that time, energy, and resources into other matters. I remember more holidays in elementary school than anything else and thats not necessarilt a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI think it is ok if schools don't celebrate holidays because its not really a big deal. If there is an educational purpose that applies it mat matter more but besides that I dont think it is too much of an issue. Some schools put a lot of focus into the holidays when they could be putting that time, energy, and resources into other matters. I remember more holidays in elementary school than anything else and thats not necessarilt a good thing.
ReplyDeleteSadly I did not truly dress up for Halloween due to my job but I did dress up for the Witch's Ball as a broken doll. The thought that Halloween isn't celebrated in schools but Christmas is makes me sick honestly. Christmas also comes from pagan religion along with Halloween. So the schools should either celebrate the holidays all together. No if's, an's, or but's about it. Christmas could offend anyone just as well as Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI personally see nothing wrong with Halloween I enjoyed it as a kid. I believe that all schools should celebrate all holidays because no one would feel left out. also, it could be educational for student to learn about different cultures and what they celebrate. For Halloween i dressed up as Minnie Mouse and i passed out candy to the kids. - Kristal Lopez
ReplyDeleteI personally see nothing wrong with Halloween I enjoyed it as a kid. I believe that all schools should celebrate all holidays because no one would feel left out. also, it could be educational for student to learn about different cultures and what they celebrate. For Halloween i dressed up as Minnie Mouse and i passed out candy to the kids. - Kristal Lopez
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