HALLOWE’EN, ALL HALLOW’S EVE, ALL SAINTS EVE, HALLOWEEN!

         HALLOWE’EN, ALL HALLOW’S EVE, ALL SAINTS EVE, HALLOWEEN!

(Charles Haynes, Green Bay Press Gazette)

(UPI beta odd news, The Reporter Education)

(Anne E. Kitch, Nickolas Rogers, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Gaelic and the Welsh speaking cultures influenced it, some with pagan roots, or Celtic Christianity refined it and a fellow by the name of Jack Santino, an academic folklorist, wrote that the “sacred and the religious are a fundamental contest for understanding Halloween in Northern Ireland.”

 

Wow I never would have thought that an innocent, candy gathering, ghoul acting, costume wearing, window soaping night could become so controversial…..but once again, I’d be wrong. Some of my fondest childhood memories was dressing up in an old sheet, donning a mask, grabbing a paper shopping bag and hitting the neighborhood streets in my annual quest for getting a free sugar rush.

 

I never…..and I mean never had any mischievous ideas about causing any sort of trouble, tipping over some outhouse, soaping or waxing house windows, (car windows don’t count,) or putting a bag of cow dung on a neighbor’s porch.

 

I don’t know how kids think today…..I’m not sure anybody does, but I’m thinking they are just like me, wanting to do a little dress-up, act silly, and in the process get some free candy. Anyways that’s what I see on my block every year. Oh sure you get the occasional middle to late teen who seems along for the festive ride, but they don’t cause trouble…..at least on my block.

 

LEAVE IT TO ADULTS TO TAKE THE FUN OUTTA THINGS

But wait; now we have school principle Orlando Taylor of Inglewood Elementary School in Pennsylvania’s Towamencin Township declaring that his kids won’t be celebrating Halloween at school this year. Is it a state law, a regional ban, or has the good principle’s decision been made through a write-in-campaign by concerned parents…..no, no…..and no, Mr. Taylor took it upon himself to dial back the festivities…..and he does have a point, albeit a hazy kind of point.

 

Now I’m not saying that maybe the elementary school…..located at 1313 Allentown Road needs to be singled out as some kind of secular holiday, but I suppose that some would look at the schools address, 1313, and wonder, (is this some sort of sign?)

 

What do you think a 10 or 12 year old thinks about the word secular, much less understand what the word might imply. It reminds me of Little League sports, all the kids want to do is play, most simply do not care what the final score is, but the parents, ah-ha a completely different story, they’re the ones with the scorebooks.

 

Without reservation I do not have any problem with kids celebrating Halloween…..it’s been around since the middle 1700’s. A night of good old fashioned ghouling around is probably good for the soul, if not the intestinal fortitude.

 

There is one area where Mr. Taylor does have a point, celebrating with parades on school property, now here’s where I’d draw a line…..no parades, especially if horses are involved…..horses can be a messy commodity in a parade.

 

That said, here’s where Orlando Taylor and I would part company, after parades, some sort of loose school-room party complete with dress-up, for me is absolutely permissible, in fact if invited, I’d attend, I still love almost every kind of candy treat.

 

SENSITIVITY OF ALL MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY

Principle Orlando Taylor actually wrote in a letter that “the district must always be mindful of the sensitivity of all members of the community with regards to holidays and celebration of a religious, cultural or secular nature.”  Without doubt Mr. Taylor is a well read intelligent educator in Pennsylvania, and the North Penn School District is lucky to have him.

 

But sir, sensitivity of all members of the community, PLEASE gives me a break, its bubble gum, Hersey candy bars and pop-corn balls. Schools celebrate all sorts of crap; some is embraced, Christmas, Thanksgiving…..and Easter, while others, Lincoln’s birthday, Martin Luther King Day aren’t…..embraced. Nobody has a hissy fit, they move on…..like you should, Mr. Taylor.

 

Halloween celebration at Inglewood Elementary School in Pennsylvania U.S.A. is just that…..Mr. Taylor…..a non issue, one that should never, ever been raised. In this case Principle Taylor needed to be like an umpire in baseball, a silent arbitrator, the question of celebrating Halloween left to each individual teacher.

 

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that school districts may not endorse, prefer, favor, promote or advance any religious beliefs. I didn’t know that wanting to eat a chuck of candy, (oh what I wouldn’t give for a bite of those little Chunky Bars, do they still make them) is endorsable, preferred, promoted or advancing a religion…..I thought it was just candy.

 

Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center just had to weigh in with an official opinion, “if Halloween lessons and activities disappeared tomorrow from the October curriculum, little of educational, little of educational value would be lost.” Of course the good scholar’s opinion really can’t be argued, they seldom can be…..however in this case, I feel my protest outweighs the logic of Mr. Haynes.

 

Kids, God bless them, need to be…..well, kids, as I’ve mentioned, they don’t care about religious beliefs, they just want to be kids. It’s their jobs, some actually never grow into adulthood, to be meddlesome, to laugh out of turn, and to be simply a disruptive agent is what kids need to be. I know what I’m talking about, I’m one of those who never grew up, and I rejoice each and every day of my life.

 

There isn’t a question of some sort of constitutional right here, just candy, sticky messy hands, and maybe a couple of Ho Ho’s if a kid is lucky. Leave Halloween alone…..it’s to be celebrated by each and every kid, whether a kid…..or a wanna be kid who’s 69.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!