I started reading the Article "A Mind's Eye: A Halloween Activity to Ignite Young Imaginations" by Gaetan Pappalardo and instantly my mind wondered to the whole debate about Halloween being celebrated in the public school system. Though the article is not debating the issue of Halloween being celebrated in the classroom, it touches on it stating "We all know that Halloween has been a questionable holiday. Some school districts have totally ditched it; some make it an inservice day for teachers without students; some even changed the name" (Pappalardo, 2010).
Growing up, I enjoyed celebrating the holidays in school and found them to be a time of fun with other classmates along with a good bonding experience with those around me. There was a student who always missed school when we had our Christmas party and I thought nothing of it until recently. The student missed school because his culture did not celebrate the holiday and his parents thought it best that he stay home. I will not knock the parents for this because they had their reasons and reasons I will never know, but if it was simply because they did not believe in the holiday and thought it to be bad that their child celebrate it, then I have some questions I would like to ask them. As a teacher, and basically a parent to most of my students, I find it a wonderful experience to be introduced to different cultures and holidays. When I was in the Dominican Republic, I celebrated Easter the way the Dominican's did and enjoyed learning about why they do what they do. When I visited South Korea last year, I arrived on White Day, where women actually celebrate the men in their lives; sort of a reverse Valentine's Day. I too wanted to participate and found myself looking at all the expensive chocolates that one could buy. I guess my whole thoughts are, why remove culture from our schools and rob children of great learning experiences. We have to learn to all get along and except others for what they believe, why not start by throwing the holidays back into the school system? Children have their own minds and as soon as we start giving them responsibility of making their own choices and decisions, they take control of their lives and will quickly learn what they want to do verses what their parents want them to do. I think it is important that parents allow their child, no matter what age, to decide if he/she would like to participate in a holiday party or not. If the parent has to make that decision, than obviously that child is too young and will not be morally or religiously harmed by attending that school holiday party.
Maybe in the end...I just thought it was cool to stick my hand in the dark box and feel the brain (spaghetti noodles) or eggs (eyeballs)!
Reference:
Pappalardo, Gaetan. "The Mind's Eye: A Halloween Activity to Ignite Young Imaginations." Oct. 27, 2010. Retrieved from edutopia.com Oct. 27,2010. Link to: Halloween
Halloween was always a day of school that was devoted to parties and a costume parade through the school. Forget about instruction. Personally, I was thrilled with leaving elementary school because it meant I didn't have to dress up. (Yes, I was a strange child.) As for eliminating Halloween from school, I don't see much of a point. These are the little things that you will actually remember doing in elementary school. And, those who don't want to participate don't have to. Participation in Halloween shouldn't be mandatory. It would be great if the elementary teachers can teach their students about the history of Halloween and actually learn about the holiday, besides the free candy.
ReplyDeleteJenny, thanks for a great blog. For the last couple of years, I decided to not allow my children to participate in Halloween. I don't set any requirements of the school but at my house we didn't dress up or trick or treat.
ReplyDeleteFast forward, three years. This year me and my husband disagreed on the issue. He told me why he celebrated and I give my children the assignment of finding out the history of the holiday. After they learned a little, they handed out candy and I let my guard down. As you stated, it was time to stop pushing my beliefs on my kids and let them make some decisions. THANKS!