Halloween Madness

Ben started Middle School this year so we no longer have a kid in the local elementary school.  Carol still keeps in touch with parents that do, however, and last night heard an earful about a new school policy.

It turns out that the school has decided to cancel the annual Halloween party in which the kids dress up in their Halloween costume and parade through the school.  It’s a big annual event and, if our kids are any indication, loved by the students.  We did the same thing when I was in grade school (back in the stone age) and I know I loved it.  The school administrators want to instead hold a “Fall festival” or something and when asked specifically, said that costumes will be strictly verboten.  

So why would they do this?  I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.  

Yes, they’re doing it because some Christians are “opting out” of the dress-up due to concerns with the “morality” of Halloween and the Satanic implications of children dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jedi.  While I think it’s a Dark Ages mentality to be afraid of kids wearing costumes, to be fair, as far as I know these Christians weren’t calling for abolition of the parade and it’s certainly their right to opt out, however ridiculous I might think that is.  And most Christians have no problem with Halloween.  In this case, the administrators seem to be acting preemptively.  So what percentage of kids “opt out”, creating this problem?  12%.  Yes, a mere 12% of kids are opting out so the school has decided to trash the entire event.

There was a lot of on-line discussion and Carol read some of it to me.  I am a little uncomfortable with the arguments by some in favor of the parade that “The 12% minority shouldn’t dictate what the rest of us can do.”  I agree with that but it’s a little too close to the common argument you hear from Christians who want to erect a 10 commandments monument on public ground or teach creationism in school.  They say that the minority of non-Christians (Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, etc.) should just “shut up and get out of the majority’s way.”  The difference, though, is that holding a Halloween party isn’t an unconstitutional violation of other’s rights, while the monument and teaching creationism are.  In this case, the school shouldn’t cancel a fun, healthy activity for 88% of the students because 12% of the students have parents who are afraid of witches.

There seems to be a lot of outrage so I hope the administration will feel some heat.  The community needs to rise up to protest this loss of a beloved tradition and keep a little bit of sanity in the school.