Poll: All Hallow's Eve--Castrated?

[kronoset]

I just picked up my morning copy of NYT and stumbled on this article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/us/30costume.html?_r=1&hp

I remember I noticed the beginnings of this issue in elementary school when my friend (the Grim Reaper)was told that he couldn't wield his scythe and would have to leave it with the backpacks until school was over. I guess it goes without saying that no scythe=no reaper, so the costume was effectively destroyed. However, at least they let us wear masks, even if we couldn't wield our weapons of truth...but after reading this article...well, I just feel like the holiday might've gotten raped by today's excessively "MORAL" (not sure what that word means) society. It seems that Halloween is curled up on the ground in a fetal position applying morphine and lube to a certain orifice knowing that the penetration has only just begun. I guess you could also connect this to larger societal implication if you wanted to as well.

I put in a poll! And don't complain about the last option, it doesn't actually effect the genuine results, rather it weeds out the people who don't give a **** or have small attention spans...like myself (the latter)

 

[Baby Tea]

Here is what the school sent home as guidelines for kids wearing costumes at school:

- They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary.
- Masks are allowed only during the parade.
- Costumes may not demean any race, religion, nationality, handicapped condition or gender.
- No fake fingernails.
- No weapons, even fake ones.
- Shoes must be worn.

I completely agree with all of them. Really, the kids should be happy they can dress up at all. Last time I looked, school isn't about costumes. It's about learning and preparing for your future as an adult. If little Jimmy wants to ***** about not being able to be a zombie, then little Jimmy can spend a few months in another country's non-lackadaisical education system with strict dress and behavior codes and see how much he cares about being a zombie.

That, or he can shut-up, suck it up, and just be a zombie when he goes out trick-or-treating.

 

[kronoset]

Here is what the school sent home as guidelines for kids wearing costumes at school:

- They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary.
- Masks are allowed only during the parade.
- Costumes may not demean any race, religion, nationality, handicapped condition or gender.
- No fake fingernails.
- No weapons, even fake ones.
- Shoes must be worn.

I completely agree with all of them. Really, the kids should be happy they can dress up at all. Last time I looked, school isn't about costumes. It's about learning and preparing for your future as an adult. If little Jimmy wants to ***** about not being able to be a zombie, then little Jimmy can spend a few months in another country's non-lackadaisical education system with strict dress and behavior codes and see how much he cares about being a zombie.

That, or he can shut-up, suck it up, and just be a zombie when he goes out trick-or-treating.

I get not running around with sharp objects or your willie hanging out, but I think this is one those cases where you do it right or don't do it at all. I wouldn't actually care if it was just in schools, but I only used the schools as a control. Even outside of school, I barely notice a scary kid at the door. Few are even trying. Holloween doesn't mean you dress up as a friendly woodland critter and bounce form door to door. At the very least, you gotta earn the candy...next time a kid tries that, I'm giving him or her acorns.

And as far as this goes

"- They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary."

what they're acknowledging at your school certainly isn't Halloween then---it's called happy dress-up tea party extravaganza.

 

[Rawker]

Halloween has always been castrated, unless you worship the pagan harvest god or pray black masses with your local druid.

 

[Baby Tea]

I wouldn't actually care if it was just in schools, but I only used the schools as a control. Even outside of school, I barely notice a scary kid at the door. Few are even trying.

Well then that's the kids.
My nephew doesn't want to be a zombie or vampire. He wants to dress up in a shark costume. My sister and her husband aren't going to force the kid to wear something he doesn't want to. If he says 'shark costume', that's a reasonable request.

Holloween doesn't mean you dress up as a friendly woodland critter and bounce form door to door. At the very least, you gotta earn the candy...next time a kid tries that, I'm giving him or her acorns.

Halloween is just, for the kids, about dressing up as something and getting candy.
There isn't any deep meaning behind it, unless you're a pagan or something. The kids just want candy! And they can dress up as what they want, be it scary or not. Some do, some don't. Who cares?

And as far as this goes

"- They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary."

what they're acknowledging at your school certainly isn't Halloween then---it's called happy dress-up tea party extravaganza.

'Gangs' is completely understandable, especially in inner-city schools that have a real problem with gangs.
As for the 'horror' and 'scary' parts, the school recognizes that the school as a whole will already be disrupted like crazy by a bunch of kids wearing costumes all day. The last thing they want to have to deal with is people stalking around scaring people (especially younger grades), creating further pandemonium. It's a school, not a freaking fun house. They should be happy they can dress up at all.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Godamn Otters stealing my sweets.

 

[Zagzag]

I actually had to laugh when I read this. But that's because I'm from England, and over here we really don't do anything like this. You see the occasional person dressed up in costume in the evening of the 31st but thought of children wearing costumes, like the ones shown, to school is completely alien to me! Surely this sort of thing should be kept out of school!

Also since this is in the newspapers it presusmably means that people have already started dressing up in costumes despite it not being the actual day yet. Why is it that so many celebrations have become so commercialised that people feel the need to start celebrating them weeks in advance. And how many schoolchildren actually think of hallow'een as a religious festival or even understand its oigins and real significance?

 

[scotth266]

"I'm not sure what is driving this memo," Mr. Bishoff said. "But perhaps it is reaction to years past. Sometimes kids will have those 'Scream' masks, but usually not too blood and gutsy. I mean, can't parents have discretion? The fact is, if parents are too stupid to not send kids to school with hockey masks as Jason, they are probably too stupid to read this memo."

This man hits it on the head. What good will all the school's restrictions do when the problem really is the parents failing to restrict the kids?

I mean, come on people: gang costumes? You really shouldn't need to be warned about not wearing those. Not to mention the general disruption the other stuff on the list causes...

 

[BonsaiK]

In Australia, Halloween has always been more or less a non-event despite repeated attempts by retail outlets to popularise it. I think it's mainly an American preoccupation. So I'm not really sure how to even respond to this, as it never really took off in the first place.

 

[soulasylum85]

hell my aunt is in a big fight with our elementary school right now because for the past few years the principal has banned halloween from the school. the kids aren't allowed to get dressed up at all or even have a halloween party. instead they have to have a harvest party wich is pretty much a halloween party without all the things that make it fun. all because the principal says not all the kids celebrate halloween which is fine, they should make those kids go to a different room while all the normal kids celebrate halloween and get dressed up and have a parade like they have been doing in this country for hundreds of fucking years. sorry for the rant but political correctness pisses me the fuck off.

o and the response to the poll... i blame the river otters, sneaky bastards

 

[Lullabye]

?We?re balancing a tradition here with the times we live in,? said Tom Hernandez,
\
holy fucking wow. obviously i mustve been living under a rock because seriously, how the fuck is a zombie scary? its not. I kill those bastards on l4d. now, if a buff guy decides too dress up like a tank zombie and charge down the street beating the crap out of little children, then i can see where there may be a problem(read:may)
even here at my highschool, I almost got kicked out of calss this morning for dressing up like a pirate. IM A PASTAFARIAN! ITS NOT EVEN SCARY! I DIDNT EVEN HAVE A TOY WEAPON! WTF!!!!

 

[Quad08]

Halloween parties at school always sucked anyways

 

[Zagzag]

The principal has banned halloween from the school.

In the UK this is a total non event because schools act as if Hallow'een doesn't exist anyway, which is not a problem with me. Only the US seems to care that much about it.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Stupid otters

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Halloween has always been castrated, unless you worship the pagan harvest god or pray black masses with your local druid.

And what if you do do that?

 

[teisjm]

Dunno, while we have halloween in Denmark, the big "dress up" holiday thing lies somewher in febuary and is caleld "fastelavn" this year i was dressed up as a terrosist, with stuff that looked like a bomb and stuff, but then again I wasn't in school, but at a house-party, so i guess it's different when you get older, and theres no parents to make rules.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

There will always be people who whether on purpose or inadvertently will try to suck everything interesting or diverse out of the world.

The best we can do is completely ignore these people whenever possible rather than calling attention to the which DOESN'T. HELP. AT. ALL.

 

[Psepha]

Halloween is pretty much the only yearly... day... event... holiday... thing I respect these days. I have fun at christmas with my family, but I don't respect the holiday, for example. The people going out Trick Or Treating or dressing up at school/work aren't even trying to pretend it's about anything other than dressing up, having fun and getting sugary goodness. Can other yearly events say the same?

If you want confirmation, ask anyone who the main character of Easter or Christmas is. I'll bet anything you want they don't say "Jesus". But that IS what it's meant to be about.

Halloween is honest.

 

[Koeryn]

The principal has banned halloween from the school.

In the UK this is a total non event because schools act as if Hallow'een doesn't exist anyway, which is not a problem with me. Only the US seems to care that much about it.

The US is a fun place. One the one side, you've got the Conservative whack-jobs bitching about how Satan's stealing childrens souls, or eating them, or giving them tooth-aches, or whatever it is they're bitching about when it comes to Halloween being evil, you've got the normal people who enjoy taking a day to just kick back, dress as a bat, or a temptress, whatever.

And I really need to stop posting when I'm running on no sleep.

 

[Aptspire]

I guess I don't mind those outlines for elementary school children... however, teens should have a much greater freedom of expression for the events related to Halloween
Also: What about music artists? say that a kid wants to dress up as a zombie MJ? What's the guideline then?