The celebration of witches and skeletons and ghosts won't happen this year at a Massachusetts elementary school:
When students at Underwood Elementary School walk to their classrooms on Monday, there will be no witches, SpongeBob SquarePants, or Johnny Damons there to greet them.The school's principal said yesterday he acceded to the complaints of a handful of parents who said that because the school's traditional Halloween celebrations offended their religious beliefs, they would not send their children to school if the revelry continued this year.
''Not everyone is going to agree with the decision, and I really understand that," said principal David Castelline, who last year grew a beard and dressed up as Johnny Damon. ''But I felt the goal was really important to make it a respectful and open and welcoming place for all members of our community."
I don't know if he's as calm about the situation as he sounds. Any principal willing to grow a beard for his costume sounds pretty committed to the ideals of Halloween.
But seriously, these sorts of things always amaze me. I'm surprised schools give in when parents threaten to keep children home. If parents are really that concerned about the holiday, then they should be allowed to work out a plan that will allow their child to stay home without falling behind. But to ban a holiday because a few people are offended does seem to open up the door for banning other holidays as well. And it seems very odd - and hypocritical - to me that schools would work so hard, in general, to promote diversity and open-mindedness, and not ask for parents and students to in general be tolerant of activities in which they choose not to participate.
Posted by kswygert at October 28, 2005 11:27 AM