I'm not sure this is as much PC run amok as much as it is people not wanting kids to wear costumes to school and cause more distractions to the classrooms. Plus, who really gives a crap if they can't dress up at school on Halloween? It doesn't mean they can't when they get home. I never dressed up at school, but I still trick or treated after school.
This has been happening a long time all over the country. I attended a private Christian school and they stopped letting us dress in costumes in my 8th grade year ('98). I have a friend in Ohio who stopped letting kids come to school in costumes and called it Harvest Festival about six years ago. Same in states from all different parts of the country. May only be district specific in some.
I think it has more to do with hypersensitive/overprotective mothers and the influence they can have on politicians. Our culture is becoming sanitized.
This kind of thing drives me up the wall. So schools ban Halloween because it might offend the Christian children? How about the freedom of expression for the kids that they are suppressing? This makes me sick. If what I'm wearing offends you, maybe you should harden the fuck up. I loved wearing a costume to school as a kid. It doesn't hurt anyone, just as allowing someone to celebrate Christmas doesn't hurt anyone. People have become so hypersensitive about the possibility of offending someone else that they've lost track of the fact that they are committing a much worse injustice by censoring others.
It's called freedom of speech. But I seriously doubt it has to do with just offending Christians, because that's what public schools are partially dedicated to these days. I think it's a combination of offending any religion and partly the sugary candy that rots teeth... Healthy choices and all that. We have to regulate what kids may eat...
I find it amusing that so many of you point to the Christian community as influencing this movement. Didn't you read the principal's clarification? It's not the Christians who are the problem--it's the Russians! People who dislike Halloween are clearly communists. Blame Barfo...
And yet we have vending machines with soda like Pepsi and candies located on school grounds. So the problem isn't the candy, it's that the schools aren't making any money off of it... maybe PPS should get into the costume business. They'd make a killing.
I'll look, but I thought that All Hallow's Eve is a Catholic invention. Schools often make stupid misapplications of policy for really stupid reasons, generally falling at the feet of really stupid administration. (See things like Flag Day shirt)
This is the problem: http://www.crawfordsworld.com/rob/HEG/HEG_Government/HEGBostonLegal/HEGReligion.htm I was looking for the actual case, but this is the best I could do real quickly.
Besides most likely blatantly lying about them not showing up for school because they were offended by what is the most fun and exciting day of the year for most kids, why is a school principal calling American schoolchildren "Russians"?
Halloween originally was and still is a pagan holiday. Other religions piled on later creating it's arch-enemy (All Saint's Day). Halloween History Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago. All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day. Origin of Halloween While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Halloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same. Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead. Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition. The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating. http://www.halloween-website.com/history.htm
