School Bans Halloween Costumes

[FraserB]

Not really shocked that this happened in Ontario. Apparently some parents didn't like Halloween, so the solution is to ban it outright rather than let those kids stay home on the 31st.


According to Baker, over the past few years, some parents have informed teachers that they would be pulling their kids from school on October 31 because they disagreed with Halloween's "graphic imagery, culture and religion."

"We have to be receptive to people who have values that are different than our own," Baker told Brant News. "Sometimes people who are emotionally engaged in a particular issue have trouble understanding the tough spot that an administrator is in."

I'm all for being considerate of other people's beliefs, but this is one of the times it should be the small, annoying minority that accommodates the majority.

Despite banning costumes, they will still be doing "Halloween Activities" and students are "invited" to wear orange and black. Seems the next logical step for these fools is to ban Christmas stuff once a few non-Christians complain and then on to Easter after some lactose intolerant people complain about chocolate.

Full story here

http://www.parentdish.ca/2014/10/28/halloween-ban-in-ontario-school-outrages-parents/

[G-ZUS]

:facepalm:

[lilmira]

boooo party poopers

[E46..sTyLez]

That's straight BS. People complain too damn much, and people listen to their complaints more than they should.

[Thaco]

this is old news, my son is in grade 7 and i think the last year he was allowed to wear a costume was grade 2...

they have "black and orange day" but are and have not been allowed to wear costumes for years/.

[killramos]

Ban culture. Something we are full of these days...

[Robin Goodfellow]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
That's straight BS. People complain too damn much, and people listen to their complaints more than they should.

Two thoughts:

1) No occult-themed costumes is the policy at many catholic schools. And this seems to be appropriate, given the context.

2) Given the exploding number of evangelicals who object to halloween, we can expect to see more such parent-protests in the public school system.

[Canmorite]

LOL 'black and orange day' WTF is that. Banning halloween, hilarious.

Next up: banning Valentine's Day.

[CompletelyNumb]

Originally posted by Thaco
this is old news, my son is in grade 7 and i think the last year he was allowed to wear a costume was grade 2...

they have "black and orange day" but are and have not been allowed to wear costumes for years/.

:eek: Is Calgary seriously like that now? Fucking depressing.

[lilmira]

Ban Mother's Day, oh no I didn't just say that.

[E46..sTyLez]

Originally posted by Robin Goodfellow


Two thoughts:

1) No occult-themed costumes is the policy at many catholic schools. And this seems to be appropriate, given the context.

2) Given the exploding number of evangelicals who object to halloween, we can expect to see more such parent-protests in the public school system.

It's little kids having fun, nothing more IMO

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Canmorite


Next up: banning Valentine's Day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/8510091.stm


A primary school in Weston-super-Mare has been criticised for banning Valentine cards to save pupils the "emotional trauma" of being rejected.

[Manhattan]

FESTIVUS FOR THE REST O' US!

[frizzlefry]

It's not even celebrated as a religion for 99.9% of people. Sure it has it's origins in a religion but the days of the week are named after gods. In fact today is, technically, Thors Day. Should we change the names of days to accommodate overly sensitive people? Maybe name them after apostles.

[diamondedge]

When I was in grade school, rejection on Valentines never happened because you were supposed to give a card to EVERYONE...even guys.

That way no one was rejected. Teachers even gave out lists with the names so you would not miss any.

And if you found out, you got over it.

This was +15 years ago

LOL @ this nonsense

[duaner]

Originally posted by Robin Goodfellow
2) Given the exploding number of evangelicals who object to halloween, we can expect to see more such parent-protests in the public school system.
The irony is, most of the customs of Halloween as we currently know it have their roots in Christianity, as does the name "Halloween," and not in paganism as most Evangelicals erroneously believe.

[Fly Fishin']

I will be pulling my kids from school on the 31st if they can't dress up!

[speedog]

Sign of the times I suppose. Halloween is a big deal in our family and for many families on our block as made evident by the Halloween themed decoration sup and down the block.

But times are a changing, people from different parts of the world move and settle here and Halloween isn't a part of the culture from where they came from - case in point, the teller who served me this afternoon at the bank near our business isn't celebrating Halloween and she doesn't feel that she ever will. She moved here five years ago from Nigeria (where she grew up) and Halloween just wasn't something they celebrated there. And she is just one of many that may fit a demographic like that.

Then you throw in regular born-here Canadians who have decided that they aren't going to celebrate Halloween for whatever reason - I don't understand it but it is what it is. Thing is that thing's change - I have to tolerate our national anthem being sung in two languages, something I never had to decades ago. I see all kinds of stuff celebrated in out schools now that wasn't when I went to grade school decades ago - we live in a changing world and maybe Halloween will just be one of those things that might disappear.

That said, I'll continue to do my Halloween thing but I am also too well aware that there may come a point down the road when there'll be no kids coming around because it just isn't a thing any more. In the mean time though, I am glad that my kids are old enough that I don't have to deal with orange and black day because that would anger me no different than my daughter not being able to enjoy white fleshed fish at lunch when she was in grade school a number of years ago. So for now, the pumpkin's are carved, the candy will go out tomorrow night, my wife and kids will work Screamfest and I'll make another useless post just to piss off one particular beyond member. Later.

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by duaner

The irony is, most of the customs of Halloween as we currently know it have their roots in Christianity, as does the name "Halloween," and not in paganism as most Evangelicals erroneously believe.

It may. Some traditions have a resemblance to Gaelic Samhain but it is, without a doubt, a Christianized holiday mainly influenced by Celtic harvest festivals.

Much like Christmas. That holiday's traditions, including the date, are 99% influenced by Pagan traditions.

If our Christian holidays were celebrated more to the true roots of the holiday then they would be more like Islamic celebrations.

But the best way to expand your religious beliefs is to integrate with the local religion you are trying to replace. Hence European and North American christian holidays have more Pagan/Celtic symbolism compared to older "christian" god based religions that never aggressively expanded as much beyond their region like Judaism or Islam.

The fact kids can't dress up because of a lie makes it even more annoying.

[sheik_yerbouti]

Originally posted by Thaco
this is old news, my son is in grade 7 and i think the last year he was allowed to wear a costume was grade 2...

they have "black and orange day" but are and have not been allowed to wear costumes for years/.

Calgary Catholic right? Some of the schools do this for some reason I don't understand. The last couple I've taught in still have Halloween. I think it's mostly suburban schools that have the Orange and Black day thing.

[HiTempguy1]

You guys do realize Halloween is the second largest (gross revenue) generating holiday of the year, right? And it keeps growing. Supposed to pass Christmas soon for first place.

It ain't going anywhere.

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1
You guys do realize Halloween is the second largest (gross revenue) generating holiday of the year, right? And it keeps growing. Supposed to pass Christmas soon for first place.

It ain't going anywhere.

I don't think that's the point of contention though. It's not a holiday. It's a tradition. Its a tradition that a vast majority of kids enjoy. The reason it could surpass Christmas is because anyone in our culture can enjoy it, even if "modified" to be acceptable to a household's religion.

I find the banning of it in schools to be annoying because it is being controlled in the public forum like a religious holiday yet is afforded none of the rights of a religious holiday.

IE a school may not formally celebrate a religious holiday but cannot ban a kid from wearing a symbolic symbol of said holiday. Halloween is being banned because it's a "religious" holiday but at the same time if a kid shows up in a costume they are sent home.

I'm an atheist. I'm not pagan or wiccan or anything. This just offends my common sense and intellect. Halloween is being banned due to people who say it violates their religious beliefs when Halloween is not a religious day and was, in fact, created by the very same church the naysayers belong to.

It's just stupid. Stupid people being stupid and ruining everyone's fun because they don't even know their own religion.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by frizzlefry
It's just stupid. Stupid people being stupid and ruining everyone's fun because they don't even know their own religion. Silly you. Trying to apply logic to a religion. :banghead:

[E46..sTyLez]

So my co-workers are telling me none of this is relevant in Calgary because the CBE has closed all public schools in Calgary for Halloween. Is this the case??

[speedog]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
So my co-workers are telling me none of this is relevant in Calgary because the CBE has closed all public schools in Calgary for Halloween. Is this the case??
Believe so, PD day I suspect.

Edit - non-instructional day, here ya go, link (http://www.cbe.ab.ca/calendars/PDF-Docs/2014-2015-Traditional.pdf). Same thing for Catholic system as well - link (https://cssd.ab.ca/files/school_calendar/14-15-calendar-traditional.pdf). So does this mean that school zones are not in effect today because it is not a day with any kids in classes - how does that work?

[Robin Goodfellow]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
So my co-workers are telling me none of this is relevant in Calgary because the CBE has closed all public schools in Calgary for Halloween. Is this the case??

This is true, but not as relevant as one would think.

Today is a PD day, so public schools held Halloween celebrations yesterday.

The PD day was not used as an excuse to cancel Halloween, as one may infer.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Far worse than the people calling for Halloween bans, IMO, are the people who give in and allow it.

[msommers]

Nailed it.

[4doorj]

Yup no Halloween for my daughter in catholic school. Booooooooo
She was sad because my son in play school got to dress up and she couldn't.
They should ban those parents that complain hahaha They ruin everything:banghead:

[speedog]

Originally posted by speedog
...non-instructional day, here ya go, link (http://www.cbe.ab.ca/calendars/PDF-Docs/2014-2015-Traditional.pdf). Same thing for Catholic system as well - link (https://cssd.ab.ca/files/school_calendar/14-15-calendar-traditional.pdf). So does this mean that school zones are not in effect today because it is not a day with any kids in classes - how does that work?
Spoke with one officer at the non-emergency line and they said if the school's flag is flying then CPS will ticket people - of course I questioned that because if the janitor forgets to put the flag out or forgets to take it down, then that point of reference is moot and if the flag is taken down at 6pm, the school zone is still in effect. So am awaiting a call back from a CPS officer more schooled on the law and how it applies on non-instructional days and such (like today, October 31, 2014).

[Tik-Tok]

Bylaw is pretty clear, school has to be in session that day, regardless of the flag.


53. (1) Pursuant to section 107(3) of the Act, the prescribed hours during which a school
zone is in effect in the City is increased to the period beginning at 7:30 a.m. and
ending at 9:00 p.m. on any day on which school is held.

So if you get ticketed today, it's an easy toss out in court.

[Seth1968]

According to Baker, over the past few years, some parents have informed teachers that they would be pulling their kids from school on October 31 because they disagreed with Halloween's "graphic imagery, culture and religion."

It doesn't have anything to with that. Besides, your kids are going to see 10x worse, all day, everyday. Furthermore, religion's origins and practices are far more horrific than Halloween.


Originally posted by Robin Goodfellow


1) No occult-themed costumes is the policy at many catholic schools. And this seems to be appropriate, given the context.


Would you object to a costume that represents Christianity or similar religions? After all, they are just occults.

Anyway, just more self righteous people trying to impose their dogma on others.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Originally posted by Seth1968

Anyway, just more self righteous people trying to impose their dogma on others.

What an odd thing to say - People make the choice to go to catholic school....because it is a catholic school.

It is not imposed. Personally I had to expend effort to get my child into a Catholic school.

At Halloween she was initially sad that she couldn't dress up as her favorite "Monster High" Character. A workaround was found, and a very valuable conversation was had. No harm, no foul.


Would you go to a Vegan restaurant, try order Steak tartar, and then complain about vegans forcing their ways upon others?

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Robin Goodfellow


What an odd thing to say - People make the choice to go to catholic school....because it is a catholic school.

It is not imposed. Personally I had to expend effort to get my child into a Catholic school.

At Halloween she was initially sad that she couldn't dress up as her favorite "Monster High" Character. A workaround was found, and a very valuable conversation was had. No harm, no foul.


Would you go to a Vegan restaurant, try order Steak tartar, and then complain about vegans forcing their ways upon others?

Except, that's not what I said at all.

Using your examples, no, Catholics should not be able to force all schools to be Catholic. And no, I would not force all restaurants to serve meat.

[duaner]

Originally posted by codetrap
Silly you. Trying to apply logic to a religion. :banghead:
It has nothing to do with logic; it's a matter of misinformation and ignorance.

[E46..sTyLez]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Far worse than the people calling for Halloween bans, IMO, are the people who give in and allow it.

I agree with this. They need to grow a pair and let these drama queen parents troll till their heart's content. Don't ruin it for kids

[speedog]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Bylaw is pretty clear, school has to be in session that day, regardless of the flag.

So if you get ticketed today, it's an easy toss out in court.

So I got a call back from a more senior officer in the traffic section and his answer was interesting - he advised me that if it's a regular week day that's not a holiday period (summer holidays, Christmas break, spring break and whatever breaks a year round school had, etc) and there's people in the school that CPS would see it as school being in doesn't matter if it's a non-instructional day or professional development day or if there's no kids in the classrooms that day.

So I guess the safe thing is to suck it up on regular week days and do 30kph in any school zone in Calgary outside of the holiday times off. Now I suppose one could challenge this in court if they wish but the amount of time a 30kph school zone inconveniences me versus the value of my time I would have to take to fight such a ticket just doesn't make it worth it.