One Central Florida elementary school decided that to avoid the religious implications of Halloween it will allow the children to dress up as a word on the kid's spelling list.
Now, it would be way too much to expect words like Zombie, Vampire, Witch, or Nancy Grace, but I was kind of hopeful that at least historical figures might be entertained. Napoleon. Pocohantas, Buzz Aldrin. Nope. Nor was the list filled with simple professions. No fireman. No actress, sailer, soldier, or doctor.
This is what the flyer said: "On Monday October 31st, students and staff are asked to participate in the annual Literacy Parade...Grades 3-5, Dress up as an Academic Vocabulary Word. Make sure to label yourself with the vocabulary word you are representing." Oh! I get now. Surely these are words from liteature then, right? The hallways will be filled with Horton's hearing who's and Wild Things and maybe a moon or two to say goodnight to, right?
NO! Nope. Not even close. Instead hese are pedantic words for pedantic times.
My grandson will be attending the festivities dressed as.....transpire. Or perhaps adjacent. I'm pulling for either dread, wary, or aghast. My daughter is into guerillas but that is only because she already owns khakis. Dictator is asking for it, but visual as can be. Violence has certain possibilities that aren't all good, and buffoon is a word that desperately needs resurrection but I doubt this will do it.
As an evil Satanist, Witch person I am sure it surprises no one that I am pro-Halloween. What might shock is that I am also pro-Christmas, pro-Easter, pro-anything that fills children with joy, love and imagination. The religious significance of these holidays does not belong in schools or anywhere else paid for by taxes BUT the secular aspects of these holidays are to share culturally, to find common ground, and in the case of Halloween, to explore different personas and characters. I myself and those of my generation--the one that wasn't weirdly infected by turbo-religious nutbags, have fabulous memories of dressing up on Halloween, and decorating trees and menorahs in winter, and searching for eggs and chocolate bunnies and wearing pastels in the spring. None of us kids were thinking about religion on these school holidays! We were thinking about how cool it was we were missing math for this.
Hellhouses and the like demonstrate what happens when people are terrified of their own imaginations. Being deadly dull is not symbolic of a good kid. The act of depriving children in the name of God doesn't advertize well for God, Using kids to wave a banner of being anti-Pagan, anti-Occult, anti-Alternative Religion is teaching them to be proud to be bigotted---proud to be superior to those who's customs they are at once both adapting and still shunning.
Perhaps this ould be one place where all folks in Central Florida could find common ground. Perhaps we could just all agree to let kids have holiday fun, regardless of the holiday! Pumpkins, tree's, Santas, bunnies, turkeys, dreidles, scarecrows.....a child's imaginaion only lasts as long as childhood. Let's not waste it on our adult petty disagreements.
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