PUYALLUP - "Let them have their 30-minutes of dressing goofy and having candy," said Silas Macon on the grounds of Puyallup's Maplewood Elementary School Wednesday afternoon. He'd just learned the grade school tradition of a party and parade in costume during the last half-hour of class before Halloween night won't happen this year in the Puyallup School District for his two daughters.
The superintendent has cancelled all Halloween activities.
A letter sent home to parents Wednesday states there will be no observance of Halloween in the entire school district...superintendent made the decision for three primary reasons. First, Halloween parties and parades waste valuable classroom time. In addition some families can't afford costumes.
It's the third reason some Puyallup parents are struggling with.
The district says Halloween celebrations and children dressed in Halloween costumes might be offensive to real witches...Number eight on the district's guidelines related to holidays and celebrations reads as follows: "Use of derogatory stereotypes is prohibited, such as the traditional image of a witch, which is offensive to members of the Wiccan religion"...
A Puyallup School District internal email dating from October 2000 warns that "the Wiccan religion is a bona fide religion under the law, and its followers are entitled to all the protections afforded more mainstream religions. Building administrators should not tolerate such inappropriate stereotyping (images such as Witches on flying brooms, stirring cauldrons, casting spells, or with long noses and pointed hats) and instead address them as you would hurtful stereotypes of any other minority."
2004, however, is the first year that the superintendent decided to cite that concern, along with loss of classroom study time and protection for students who can't afford costumes, as motivation for canceling in-school Halloween activities.
"They're so worried about being politically correct anymore that we're not allowed to do much of anything," said parent Tonya Reynolds whose daughter attends Maplewood Elementary.
So, let me get this straight. Christians who don't like Halloween, and don't allow their children to celebrate it, are just narrow-minded bigots who shouldn't be allowed to push their views on the rest of us. After all, there's nothing on the district guidelines about not offending Christians.
But Wiccans who don't like Halloween - they're perfectly okay? And banning Halloween costumes and celebrations for everyone, regardless of their religious identity, is somehow not narrow-minded in this circumstance?
I know Wiccans out the yin-yang. While they aren't impressed with the Hollywood portrayals of witches (insane, sex-crazed, scary, or some combination of the three), I've yet to hear one complain about children's Halloween costumes. My Wiccan friends are too busy dressing up as goddesses, men, or Jeannie from "I Dream Of Jeannie" to really care what anyone else is wearing.
Update: Via Wizbang, I found the Downtown Chick Chat, who says:
Give me a break! What's next? Pumpkins will go on protest for pumpkin cruelty because people are carving them as jack-o-lanterns and removing their guts?...
I believe in God but I don't get all pissy about people dressing up as Angels, Devils, Nuns and so on. Lighten up people!
Yeah. What she said.
Posted by kswygert at October 21, 2004 01:34 PM