Of the three explanations schools use to do away with Halloween, the third one rests most solidly on legal grounds. The friend who posted this was justifiably incensed -- there had been no discussion with parents beforehand, which, since the vast majority of these issues could have been easily dealt with by parents, could have prevented this from being an issue in the first place. With that, many parents had hoped that this year would bring some positive change, such as the dissolving of the much-hated rule: "No Halloween costumes at school". We want an inclusive environment, so we’ll get rid of the witch costumes and try to be less Halloweeny, like, say, renaming things to the Harvest Frolic or a Cornucopian Carnival; or. And finally -- asserting our right to our time-honored traditions: "I hate to say it but... oh, who am I kidding? Much like the holiday itself, the practice of dressing up is the result of a hodgepodge of traditions from around the world. Increase in the need to monitor and address appropriate dress and socially acceptable costumes. It would be for the head teacher to decide what pupils can wear for special days. 2. Robinson still remembers a first-grader who wore a … Each year, our students display some of the most well designed costumes that require a lot of thought and planning. I understand anxiety is a tough one but these children cannot be sheltered for society their entire lives and our kids shouldn't have to suffer because of it. They started out allowing "nice" costumes. So I guess if kids brought something they weren't supposed to they could put it in their locker. A Massachusetts elementary school principal has lashed out against traditional American holidays, banning costumes in school for Halloween and telling teachers to "be careful" about celebrating Thanksgiving, the Boston Herald reports. Halloween costumes … I said the school would tell him to take it off and, if he didn’t, we’d get a call and he may get sent home. Sometimes I just yell it out randomly at people on the street! As these things inevitably do, the discussion quickly devolved into the usual "they" can't force "us" to give up "our" cultural traditions/why-come-to-our-country-if-you-don't-want-to-follow-our-traditions (I'm pretty sure that's what the Native Americans said)/this-is-just-political-correctness gone-mad rhetoric... Ah yes..."Nobody take offense or anything, but I'm just going to blame religion for a decision that didn't actually involve religion. Nowadays, it is common practice to wear any kind of costume for the Halloween celebrations, and thousands of people dress as characters or objects which are in no way related to the traditions Samhain festival. Allowing Halloween costumes at work is no doubt a fun way to give your employees a break from the stresses of the day-to-day. As for the reasons for cancelling Halloween, public schools generally give at least one of the following explanations for eliminating Halloween from the school calendar: The first reason is specious, given how secularized Halloween has become—no one is suggesting we’re celebrating All Saints’ Day or going back to celebrating the pagan tradition of Samhain, with divination rituals, a ring of stones, and the summoning of fairies. I don't know... Friday, I guess. Solution #4: Tell parents send at your own risk, the school will not be held responsible for that. ...notwithstanding the fact that not one of the school's reasons cited religious/cultural accommodation as a factor in the decision, so let's just leave that train in the station or better yet send it to the scrapyard, mmmkay? Other posters made some very astute observations about the effects of banning costumes and the benefits of school-sanctioned Halloween fun. Too many upset students when costumes become torn, lost or parts forgotten at school. Go to the office!" Students at Hillcrest Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, will not be permitted to wear their Halloween costume to the school’s fall festival on October 31, and are instead encouraged to wear their favorite hat. If costumes are prohibited, my advice is this: don’t do it. I'm normally at the head of the inclusivity parade but this is ridiculous. Senior Beatrice Pocher said, “halloween costumes should not be worn in school because it can break the school dress code and it may make some students feel uncomfortable or distracted.” Not only can costumes be inappropriate and gorey, but they can make students and teachers feel offended. Wait, I don't really get that. But it prompted Augie to ask me “Why can’t I wear my Halloween costume to school?” Basically, schools that take this approach believe that goblin-like merry-making consumes class time that is better spent educating kids. Sure, but just watch what you wear and what your message is. Scarier costumes. After Tinker, courts considering a student’s free speech rights at school (or sometimes outside of school)  try to figure out the balance between a student’s right to free speech and a school’s need to maintain its disciplinary line against chaos. Don’t be afraid to be creative and even if your friends aren’t dressing up (they’re lame then, anyways), to have fun and enjoy the day. A number of schools across the U.S. have decided to forbid students from wearing their Halloween costumes to school, in an effort to be more inclusive to other students. *To avoid frightening our younger students, please avoid facepaint or masks. So long as the school allows them to opt out (and even this may not be constitutionally required), things are good. No witches, vampires, or anything of the sort. And courts generally won’t argue with that. There are definitely plausible reasons as to why a school would not allow its students to wear costumes on Halloween. Undeterred, and also prompted by teenage fairness and rebelliousness, Max wondered what would happen if his little brother wore a costume to school anyway. It is not part of our educational mission to parade around in costumes and eat candy all day. Of those 32 students, 27 agreed that it was a good idea to wear costumes. Every year, school teachers and administrators grapple with the decision whether or not to allow students to celebrate Halloween on campus. Part of HuffPost Parenting. The second reason raises a possible constitutional issue for those who DON’T want to partake in Halloween. ", "Oh, okay. Take, for instance, a New Mexico high school student who wore sagging pants to school, in violation of the school’s dress code. This year should be no different. Honestly, it is currently a commercial, secular day of the year. "But Mrs. So-and-so, I just felt like wearing my overalls today!" 1. Filed Under: Lawyer, Legal Crap My Kids Ask Me Tagged With: Featured, Student Rights, dial-back Halloween celebrations in public schools, Color Us Surprised: Scalia Is The Most Sarcastic Supreme Court Justice, Throw Another Bagel and You’re Toast, Partner, Halloween celebrations are religious observances and, if held at a public school, violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment; or, Students with religious objections will not participate in Halloween celebrations or may be offended by them, thus either staying home or feeling left out or ostracized. The [school] staff have agreed no Halloween dress up based on these grounds. No, Halloween has instead become a profitable way of selling leftover Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbars, and all the other candy that doesn’t sell during the rest of the year. In her post she commented on each of the reasons given with simple solutions: Solution to #1: Ask parents to make sure costume is easy and requires no make up. October 24, 2011 | 7:48 am. Halloween is going to feel less spooky at some elementary schools this year as school officials cancel Halloween festivities and ban kids from wearing costumes on school grounds. ", "Well, they said that the teachers don't have time to help all the kids in their classes put on make up and costumes. They will actually be sent home from school on Halloween if they wear a costume to school. 2. Subject: No Halloween costumes at schools/departments Please remember, it is a district practice to not have students or staff wear Halloween costumes to school or departments. Plan to wear costumes that are comfortable as they will be worn all day. ", "What? Why wouldn't they just put on their costumes at home? NO PICTURES PLEASE; we are all grown up we know how to follow rules. No Halloween costumes, schools tell students. Summary: I would send my kids in costume anyway and raise holy hell if the school tried to make something of it. Sure, things started off strong for student rights in 1969 with the seminal Tinker decision, which involved three students who wore black armbands to school in 1965 as a silent protest against the Vietnam War. Although there are many more great Halloween costume ideas, these are some quick and easy, school-appropriate costumes to hopefully give you inspiration on what you want to dress up for this October 31st. Or, take the case of Aloysius Dreaming Bear,  a young Lakota man who wanted to wear traditional Lakota clothing at his high school graduation, rather than the school’s required cap and gown. Solution to #7: Not that difficult actually. That was the general gist of  Tinker, which also said that the case did not relate to “the length of skirts or the type of clothing, to hair style, or deportment.” And that’s Augie’s problem. 6. Here's one for the "What is the world coming to?" 4. . Gregory D. Luce /   October 30, 2018 /   Lawyer, Legal Crap My Kids Ask Me /   2 Comments, Last week, Augie’s school announced that, instead of Halloween, it would be celebrating a “Fall Festival,” without costumes, which would not be allowed. The court, however, was at a loss to figure out what part about wearing sagging pants was speech protected by the First Amendment. *Costumes must comply with our standards of appropriate dress. From the 1980s and beyond, TV characters, celebrities and famous singers are among the costumes worn at Halloween. Solution to #5: Why would a parent let their child wear something dangerous, that's just stupid. It’s a time for tricks and treats—but not offensive costumes, says one Ontario school board. It is a great debate: should students be allowed to wear Halloween costumes to school? 13 Reasons Why surrounds an incredibly serious subject matter that shouldn't be taken lightly and 13 Reasons Why Halloween costumes should ... Baker, a high school … After being suspended, he sued the school district. Protesting a dress code by wearing a button that protests the dress code actually appears to be allowable free speech in public schools. Not a hard solution. There are restrictions on some costumes — for instance, no masks, no simulated weapons and no blood-and-guts makeup. We're so concerned about offending people with out institutionalized racism and Judeochristiancentric statutory holidays that we are letting our cherished traditions like celebrating the Gaelic feis of Samhain, marking the end of the harvest and the turn of the seasons to wintertide, with the pagan traditions of mumming and guising and rest assured WE WON'T GIVE UP OUR CULTURAL APPROPRIATION WITHOUT A FIGHT.". But schools, ever wary of lawyers and lawsuits, just figure they’ll do away with the whole problem and call Halloween something else, even if a Fall Saturnalia ironically harkens back to pre-religious, pagan traditions. Due to increase in supervision duties, teachers do not have the time to dress or apply make up for up to 30 students in their classrooms. I look forward to seeing the creativity of our students when they arrive at school on October 31st. I had no intention of doing a Halloween post today….until I saw THIS video of a friend of a friend. Costumes and parading increases apprehension in an increasing number of students who are presently experiencing anxiety issues -- which can result in crying, worrying and withdrawn type of behaviors. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. ", This post originally appeared at www.picklesINK.com. Forbidding "dress-up?" It’s hard to believe that this frenzy is solely due to Halloween costumes but rather about a disagreement about how much say parents should have in the running of the school… I don't know... Friday, I guess. That's because a number of elementary schools aren't letting students wear Halloween costumes to school events for reasons of inclusion. So...uh...how about "Parents, please be aware that teachers will not be able to apply facepaint and plan accordingly.". The decision came as a complete shock to the parents, who had never been asked if they would be able to volunteer to help or to ensure that their children could deal with their costumes themselves. Solution to #6: Create a quiet environment with appropriate activities for these students, whilst the other students go about on the parade. One valid justification is the belief that costumes jeopardize the safety of students and hinders the teachers’ abilities to teach by distracting other students. ", "So I'm just going to go ahead and play Devil's Advocate and say that I agree with the school's decision for reasons that the school didn't actually cite for making that decision.". The students won, with the Court ruling that a public school student may express an opinion on controversial subjects: if he does so without ‘materially and substantially interfer[ing] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school’ and without colliding with the rights of others. This Halloween, no ninjas are allowed. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, Raise the kind of person you'd like to know, a subject in and of itself that I have covered in detail on my blog. Now I have my own kids and they are not allowed to wear costumes to school. We also have an increase in number of students who cannot be photographed whom we have an obligation to protect so this can be difficult to monitor. But, Max asked, doesn’t Augie have the freedom to express his personality at school through whatever he wants to wear? Evanston/Skokie School District 65 posted a message to parents online, saying because of their desire to be equitable and inclusive to all families, Halloween celebrations in … The announcement was not surprising, given the trend to dial-back Halloween celebrations in public schools. But seriously, don't be offended, y'all, cause I said I didn't mean it *that* way. The old, "If *you people* don't like *our* cherished traditions, why don't you just a) Not send your kids to the schools which they have a fundamental, documented right to attend; or b) Go back to where you came from," which collectively garnered 12 likes in about 20 minutes. There’s no one explanation for how Halloween costumes originated. Basically, the court said, there’s no protected speech being made by wearing his sagging pants. She had posted a video of her son on my friend’s Facebook comment. Children kept coming to school with more realistic — and more disturbing — costumes. Creative Halloween Costumes that don’t break the bank. He then added “and what’s the line between a costume and not a costume anyway?”. Why Can't My Child Bring a Halloween Mask to School? 2. However, showing up to work on October 31 st to find an office full of risqué and offensive costumes is a nightmare of potential discrimination and/or harassment claims just waiting to happen. Principal Brian Anderson unilaterally banned Halloween costumes at the Buckman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, wanting to deemphasize the celebration of Halloween at school, and stating that "we" are pushing our traditions on an ever-changing population, meaning new immigrants. Due to increase in supervision duties, teachers do not have the time to dress or apply make up for up to 30 students in their classrooms. Teaches don't have the time to apply facepaint? Students are invited to come to school in costume or dressed in orange and black on October 31. After all, they are allowed to dress up for Spirit Week, so why not Halloween? Sadly, that much anticipated and welcomed change has yet to be announced. How do you even define that? 3. The Halloween staples were thought to be too scary for some children, so administrators at an unidentified school sent a letter to parents ahead of the holiday. *You may wish to send a change of clothes for your child. 1. Also kids should know better respect other peoples property. Just wear a black armband with “I ♥ Goblins (Keep Halloween)” on it as a protest over the school’s elimination of your favorite holiday. Many offered creative solutions to the problem: Heck, half the time Molly wears princess dresses to school. and I suggested a sample letter that could have been sent out to parents. And it's not just public schools avoiding entanglement issues. I remember wearing costumes to school on Halloween. The decision was attributed to the "staff" and the reasons behind it were given as follows: The [school] staff have agreed no Halloween dress up based on these grounds. At the high school level we have allowed Halloween costumes to be worn within the following guidelines: No masks may be worn, no costumes that are … Solution #2: Parents know better then to send an inappropriate costume to school. Last week, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde, a public, French-language school board in central and southwest Ontario emailed parents a set of guidelines for this Halloween with some pointers on appropriate costume choices.Examples of outfits that shouldn’t be worn in their schools include … To be honest, the whole student free speech issue is a bit of a mess, with varying standards being used, depending on the message the student is making and how that message is being conveyed. 3. I still don't really get it. Solution to #3: Make sure costume is indoor friendly. 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