Sebring 1

Chloe Sebring

Eric Yarberry

Composition II

November 7th, 2017

Halloween

Every October 31st, both adults and children go out at night and celebrate Halloween by

wearing costumes and trick-or-treating, or by decorating their yards and handing out candy to

those in costume. While in the past, schools have had a hand in celebrating Halloween by letting

students wear costumes and having Halloween related events, like parades or carnivals, some

school districts and teachers have or are removing Halloween from school, but some teachers

and parents wish to continue these celebrations.

While neither side can agree on what to do about Halloween, both sides argue for the

same reason; fun. Fun plays a major factor in this argument as both Anti-Halloween and

Halloween arguers want students to have fun whether that be having Halloween at school or

banning it from school grounds.

In order for all students to have fun, those against Halloween celebrations at school,

believe that getting rid of Halloween is a must as some students dont celebrate it. Some shared

that in prior years they had opted to keep their child home rather than their child be teased or

made to feel uncomfortable for having to choose between their family's beliefs and the school's

activities during the school day writes Scholls Heights Elementarys principal Monique
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Singleton in an email to parents explaining the s11chools decision to remove Halloween from

school (Fox 12). By removing Halloween, it allows for the Scholls Heights Elementary to be

inclusive for all students and allows for them to feel comfortable attending school on Halloween

without worrying about being bullied for being different.

Another school principal, Melissa DeLoreto explained that they, the school, wanted all

school events to be inclusive and felt they must be sensitive towards culture and religion

(Drelich). With the separation of church and state, schools must be sensitive towards such events

and matters that could offend or exclude students religions and cultures, therefore Anti-

Halloween supporters argue that Halloween should not take place at school.

While the main reason arguers believe Halloween should be banned is due the lack of

inclusion, there are other issues that teachers and parents argue against. For one thing, the event

can be extremely stressful for teachers, who have to supervise students into their costumes, an

increased need to monitor costumes' appropriateness and irritated and crying students because of

hot and uncomfortable costumes (Kennedy). Also, teachers are not able to dress or apply make

up for up to 30 students in their classrooms, its too much responsibility for one person

(Pickles). Plus, teachers believe that the added distraction of costumes and the time lost from

changing in and out of them, is too valuable when they already do many other community-

building activities throughout their classrooms (Fox 12). Having Halloween parties or

celebrations are a waste of time that could be spent learning instead (Mcloughlin).

Besides just interrupting learning, teachers also believe that events that allow parents, and

adults, to participate cause a safety concern for students, and make it harder for teachers to

protect students from danger (Drelich). As Principal Melissa DeLoreto explains, [w]ith
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increasing societal safety concerns, the number of adults who attend this event, some in

costumes, poses a potential safety threat" (Drelich).

Lastly, students, and parents, get upset when their costumes get torn during the day

(Pickles). While Halloween can be a fun event for students, not every culture or religion

celebrates it, and teachers are burden with the responsibility of dealing with the upkeeping of

costumes and students during these celebrations.

For those in favor of keeping Halloween in school, they believe that by having events

such as Halloween allow for students to have fun and remain motivated in school as they have

something exciting to look forward to later in the year (Fox 12). Virginia Ward, a parent from

the North Ward school, explained that events like Halloween entice the children to want to go

to school. The learning is a byproduct of that (Kennedy).

Having Halloween celebrations allows for children not only to stay excited about learning

and school, but also gives them an outlet to be a kid and have fun. Another parent, Nicole Lewis

explains this by saying I think really Halloween is about promoting imagination and creativity

and having a little fun, and I just don't think there's anything wrong with that (Fox 12). A third

parent, Joel Farrior, claimed that school was already stressful enough with standardized tests

and Common Core (Drelich). Joel also added that Halloween was a positive thing that was not

only fun, but also brought the community together, [w]hen you have a certain thing that is fun

and it's active and engaging and brings the community in, it's a positive thing (Drelich). By

having exciting events like Halloween, pro-Halloween arguers believe that students can remain

interested in learning and enthusiastic about going to school.

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Others who believe in keeping Halloween in schools, consider it a school tradition and

some are even inspired by their past experiences of Halloween at their schools. The Milford

Mayor Ben Blake explained his reason for disagreeing with the superintendent of the states

schools, Halloween is a tradition that brings together families and neighborhoods, and is an

important part of our community's collective identity (McLoughin).

On the other hand, some parents believe their kids should get to experience the same

events as they did, as explained on a petition written by Rebecca Lilley, who argues Im so tired

(of) my kids missing out on some of the things we all got to do as children and are some of the

greatest childhood memories I have due to others saying they find it offensive (Williams).

School Halloween events allow for students to make fun, long-lasting memories at school, and

also gives students the opportunity to bond with their parents over their Halloween experiences

at school.

Currently, schools that are banning Halloween have implemented several different events

or afterschool activities for students wanting to still celebrate Halloweenincluding events like

crazy sock day or black and orange spirit day (Fox 12, McLoughin.). While these events are

better than nothing, I believe students who enjoyed Halloween celebrations at school received

the short end of the stick as wearing crazy socks or black and orange clothing is not very exciting

or out of the ordinary events at school.

For students who do not celebrate Halloween, they do not give up anything and just take;

there is no real compromise for both sides. While any school celebration should be inclusive, it is

not fair to ask students wanting to participate in school Halloween events to completely give it
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up, nor is it fair for students who do not want to participate to have a full-blown Halloween event

at school.

I believe a better compromise would be for schools to have a special costume theme for

Halloween day, whether it be a something like a career day or super hero themed, as the majority

of the excitement for Halloween comes from wearing costumes and expressing their

imaginations and creative. During this event, students can come to school dressed up in costumes

as long as they fit guidelines set in place by their schools. These guidelines could define what is

considered a Halloween costume, and what would is not considered one, along with general

rules on what is school appropriate and what is not. Schools could even censor out the word

Halloween and call it a Costume day, as some schools have already done this with Christmas

and other Winter celebrations. It would also eliminate any need for parents to show up for this

event, as they will be able to see their children in costume before school starts and afterwards,

and it would discourage them from coming to school if there is no parade or anything for them to

watch. By allowing for students to dress up on Halloween day, it allows for some sort of event

to take place for students to celebrate, but it also can be seen as an inclusive school event as it is

just a costume day that all students can participate in without having to celebrate Halloween.

While I do believe a better compromise needs to be made in favor of supporters for

Halloween school events, I also believe that both sides are right. Having a Halloween celebration

at school can be exciting, and even motivating for students, but it is not fun for those who do not

celebrate Halloween or for the teachers in charge of students during these events. In order for all

students to have fun, changes must be made to allow for Halloween celebrations to be inclusive

no matter what culture or religion a student is, and to discourage in school participation from
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parents to keep students safe. The events also need to allow for students to engage in fun

activities, encourage them to continue learning at school, and allow for them to be imaginative

and creative. Without including these into whatever compromise schools make, whether it be a

costume day or not, both sides will fail their main goals; making sure the students are having fun.
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Works cited

Beaverton Elementary School Not Allowing Halloween Costumes This Year. Portland, OR

News, Weather, Traffic, Sports, Fox 12, 4 Oct. 2017,

www.kptv.com/story/36525489/beaverton-elementary-school-not-allowing-halloween-

costumes-this-year.

Drelich, Kimberly. "Parents Circulate Petition to Reinstate Halloween Parade at East Lyme

School." Day, the (New London, CT), 25 Oct. 2016. EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.iii-

server.ualr.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62522726577&site=eds-

live&scope=site.

Kennedy, Leslie. School Bans Halloween Costumes Leaving Many Unhappy Parents. School

Bans Halloween Costumes Leaving Many Unhappy Parents | The Baby Post,

www.babypost.com/blogs/baby-buzz/school-bans-halloween-costumes-leaving-many-

unhappy-parents.

McLoughlin, Pam. "Taking Sides in Halloween Debate in Connecticut Schools Can Be Tricky."

New Haven Register (CT), 18 Oct. 2015. EBSCOhost, 0-search.ebscohost.com.iii-

server.ualr.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W61416575090&site=eds-

live&scope=site.

Pickles, Karyn. 7 Reasons Why This School Is Banning Halloween. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Oct. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/karyn-pickles/7-

reasons-why-this-school_b_6029060.html.
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Williams, Valerie. Parents Outraged After District Bans Halloween Costumes In School. Scary

Mommy, 11ADAD, www.scarymommy.com/parents-outraged-after-district-bans-

halloween-costumes-in-school/.