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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 18690
[Schools/Ed]
Date Posted:
10/19/2007
6:29:39 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,820
RSS: 16,323
Comments: 27
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School Party Ban Upsets Parents
Author: Heather Simione Source: Nj.com
Title: SCHOOL PARTY BAN UPSETS PARENTS
Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional Board of Education members were confronted this week with parents upset over the recent decision to ban festivities from Field Street School.
Field Street School Principal Roy E. Webb said Thursday he had determined that festivities celebrated within the school community may promote unhealthy food and beverage choices for students. The New Jersey State Department of Education has set nutritional guidelines for all schools statewide.
"The operative word is party, which contains food and disruption of the curriculum, but events like the International Festival where parents made food was fine," said Webb. "It was a learning experience. Halloween for many people is a pagan event. This is a public school about education. There's no educational value to Halloween."
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Community Thoughts: There are 27 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| It Is Truly Sad... | Oct 20th. at 12:28:14 pm EDT
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Elwin Shadowstrider (Bartlett, Tennessee) - Email Me
.....in many schools they are eliminating art, music, and other forms of expressive art. Now it's the parties for Hallowe'en and now they say their is no "educational benefit" from observing a "Pagan holiday". The problem I have is that the kids are being robbed of their childhoods for their so called "own good" Maybe we need to ban all the holidays, x-mass, easter, kwanzaa, passover, thanksgiving, all of them. In the principal's view their isn't anything to be learned from Hallowe'en, the same goes for all the holidays. I find the lack of tolerance of anyone's faith from any side of any faith rather astounding. We are forced to observe any muslim holiday, and so many others that may or may not have anything to do with our faith of choice. Herein lies the beauty of diversity, by not getting bent out of shape over this holiday or that holiday and recognizing that we all can and should be more tolerant of each other. Yes, I am sure their are those fundies who think otherwise, and this article is the result of such thinking. What's so very truly sad is that no one asked the children what THEY wanted. It's the kids who suffer, we adults can jump up and down, foam at the mouth, and get bent out of shape all we wish. In the end, it's the kids who lose, not us.
What's even sadder is that we adults can't find a happy middle ground for the children, to allow diversity to be taught. I do indeed understand that in all faiths there are those who wish to proselytize their faith to no ends and force us all to observe what they wish. This is a battle that has spanned several millennium, over multitudes of generations, I doubt we can solve these problems over night. But, as with any problem, they can be solved.....
Brightest Blessings to all!
Elwin Shadowstrider ) O (
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| ... | Oct 20th. at 9:33:39 am EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
I blame the "poison candy" urban legend from the 1980s for this. There was no good reason to propogate that urban legend, there's no reason not to let your kids gorge themselves for one night out of the year.
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| Wow, I Wonder... | Oct 20th. at 7:14:12 am EDT
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Lora (Leominster, Massachusetts) - Email Me
I wonder if these kids will get any Halloween anything. In lots of neighborhoods, there's no trick-or-treating anymore, so parents try to organize "Fall festivals" at church, or else try to have little playgroup parties or something. One of my co-workers told me today that there is no trick-or-treating or anything in her neighborhood, the condo association won't allow it. Instead, her son's pre-school is having a Halloween party for the kids.
Talk about the 80s, when I was a wee little kid, we all knew our neighbors well enough that we accepted, and ate, homemade cookies and candy from the neighbors. The best house to trick-or-treat was always Mrs. Roy's house--she made popcorn balls, homemade lollipops, cookies in the shape of cats and bats, and gave out these giant bags of goodies. It totally made up for trick-or-treating at the dentist's house, where you knew you were going to get an apple and a toothbrush.
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| Another One..... | Oct 20th. at 3:26:00 am EDT
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me
Another "no parties at school" thing, Oh my.
I have to wonder if the principal, Mr. Webb, is against all parties - or just "Pagan event" parties. Well, I have no problem with him banning "non-educational" events/parties at the school, as long as such events as Christmas and Easter are included in the ban.
There really is no educational value in celebrating Christmas, after all - it's all about "religion", according to those opposed to the Pagan Hallowe'en. And Mr. Webb is on the record as saying that Hallowe'en is a "pagan event".
----nasionnaich
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| If They | Oct 20th. at 2:50:46 am EDT
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Azuris-Raen (Austin, Texas) - Email Me
get rid of all of the holidays, parties, recesses and fun. The kids will grow-up to be perfect... yeah...perfect fundy life hating robots. Who knows maybe thats their mission. (I shudder at the thought) Thats scarry and messed-up, not some 25 minute party at the end of the day. What next; Cybernetic Modification Day: bring $15 along with signed waiver and permission slips.
"We are the Borg, resistance is futile"
Brighest Blessings and May the Light Protect Thee! ^_^
Dax-raen
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| So Sad What Schools Are Doing These Days | Oct 20th. at 2:49:11 am EDT
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GreeneDragon (Palmdale, California) - Email Me
As I watch the downward spiral of our children's education I am deeply saddened by the knee-jerk solutions of some administrators.
Were you aware that in some states teachers are no longer permitted to have CANDY (sugar free or otherwise) in their classrooms even as occasional treats, let alone as rewards for good work. The occasional caramel or peppermint did wonders for my grades when I was a child.
Were you aware that in some states RECESS is being banned either (1) to increase the classroom education time or else (2) it is being replaced by highly supervised outdoor activities where there is no ambiguity to the rules. Education needs to include social interaction and recess is where kids learn to "figure out" the social rules. Highly supervised "play" will rob these kids of their opportunities to learn how to get along with their fellow citizens.
Few schools promote "Good Citizenship" anymore for fear of crossing the invisible lines of political correctness. In an effort not to teach morality (which I agree is a parent's role) they have also abandoned teaching ethics and courtesy. No wonder teens and even some adults have such a warped understanding of what "respect" is.
There is a long list of traditions that teachers are now discouraged from or forbidden to do, some I agree with but most appear to de-humanize the education process to the point one ponders what kinds of human beings our children will turn out to be in 20 years.
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| I Went To Catholic School | Oct 19th. at 9:56:41 pm EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
And we had great halloween parties. If this school also does not have parties for any other holidays then ok with not having one for halloween. Other than at the catholic school, we did not have parties in school but were allowed to dress up if halloween was on a school day. The parties were at night, either in the school yard or the park where there were costume contests, games and other fun things to do - but not so much candy since you did not spend as much time trick-or-treating. It is always more fun to have your halloween party after dark!
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| FOOTLOOSE: The Fundi Nutjob Sequel | Oct 19th. at 7:38:27 pm EDT
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Batman (Madison, Wisconsin) - Email Me
This is the sequel where Rhen McCormick comes back for his 23rd HS reunion, only to find that the town he graduated HS from has turned itself into a Theocratic fascist-run dictatorship, run by no other than Pat Roberts! Wow! Go figure! And the plot thickens from there. Everything that this principal of this High School has given is a load of crap. If anything, a really awful excuse NOT to celebrate this holiday, and I would bet a sizable amount of cash that he is an xtian extremist. But who knows? Maybe he's just a jackass instead! LOL!
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| Oh Jeese.... | Oct 19th. at 7:02:21 pm EDT
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Klarynn (Apache Junction, Arizona) - Email Me
Let them have some fun for cripes sake. What will it hurt for little kids to tell scary stories and dress up. Bob for apples??
Halloween is a blast!! We need to remember the fun we had as kids and let our kids have some of that fun. :)
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| I Feel Sorry For Kids These Days. | Oct 19th. at 6:24:03 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Since when does everything in school have to have an "educational value"? Life itself is an education and many are showing signs of flunking. It seems so strange to me that these days, when the whip is being cracked and the curriculum has become so heavy, that more are complaining about a lack of work ethic in the schools.
It isn't the problem of the kids, its the adults that can't get a grip and have taken everything joyful that they could from a child's life and turned it meaningless.
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| Sounds Like... | Oct 19th. at 4:04:05 pm EDT
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RavenLight (Arlington, Virginia) - Email Me
...the principal is really a Christian nutjob who's using the guidelines as an excuse not to be pagan.
I remember when I was about 12, we did, for PE, a Halloween dance (I was, as I recall, a black cat. Meow.) . My girlfriend wasn't permitted to participate in anything that was remotely connected to Halloween because 'My parents are Christian'. My shocked response 'But we're Christian too'. I didn't get it.
But, of course, we have to prepare kids to be in the real world, and the real world has gone backwards to the days when people worked 14 hour factory shifts. Now it's in an office and it's a virtue.
Lighten up.
We *all* need to lighten up.
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| I Bet They Were Upset. | Oct 19th. at 3:29:57 pm EDT
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
Heck I bet the kids were upset when they learned they couldn't have a Halloween party.
All this about healthy eating. It's a party, kids should be allowed to stuff their face with junk for one evening. And if the teacher is so concerned about healthy food, why doesn't she just bring apples or suggest party food that's got fruit in it. Fruit's healthy and if used right kids will love it.
The whole thing about violence in schools because of Halloween is pants. These are primary school kids. That is they are aged 5 to 11. If a kid is violent at that age then the parents should be held responsible for their actions because they clearly didn't raise their kids right.
Kids these days are stressed enough without this claptrap being forced down their throats as kids worry about almost anything, from school grades and bullying to terrorism and world poverty.
Let the kids have a party, let them be kids.
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| Rediculous | Oct 19th. at 10:27:50 am EDT
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Amber (Spencer, Iowa) - Email Me
My elementary school celebrated everything! For May Day in third grade the teacher had each of us make a paper basket which we left on our desk at the end of the day. The next morning, they were all filled with popcorn and candy. Each student brought treats for their birthday. On Halloween, we all dressed up and had a costume parade through each of the other class rooms. The teachers dressed up, too. I remember one being Robin Hood and another dressing in a full-body Holstein cow outfit. When a teacher turned 40 or 50, the students helped with the "Over the Hill" parties.
And you know what? We all still learned. Short, periodic breaks do not harm the education. And if you're concerned abou pedophiles, don't let other adults other than faculty into the school.
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| "The Glories Of The Eighties" | Oct 19th. at 9:24:41 am EDT
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Fraoch (Shelby, North Carolina) - Email Me
As a kid I remember having the last hour and a half reserved for a little tea party, I guess you'd call it. We'd have a cupcake, a few chips, a small cup of soda, an apple to take home, and a little brochure about dental care. Hell, my church that my folks would mandate that I attend would sponsor an actual Halloween party complete with a haunted house. My brother used to dress up like Jason Vorheeze for the event. It was no big deal back in those days, well, until this chick named Sall Shaw took over the youth ministry and er...
Anyway, schools didn't mind. Some classes had cute little Halloween parades where the kiddies dressed in costume. It's sad that this has become a problem. Halloween used to be such a fun American holiday. The way we, as Americans, did was so, I don't know, homey:
Fall leaves, Washington Irving (Washington friggin' Irving! Who can't love The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?) , jack-o-lanterns passed from the Irish turnips, the costumes that were just us (like pirates and princesses and Dracula) , the candy that is all ours, and the kids, your friends ganging together, and when you were little the bond with your parents. It was some of the best times I ever spend with my dad. He made me a scepture when I was little.
Man... screw those people for ruining this holiday, but they can't take away my memories. And... they can't take away Samhain.
I'm gonna make sure that when my brother and sister have kids that they experience this time in some way, as I have a ton of decorations.
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| Special Treats. | Oct 19th. at 9:02:14 am EDT
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Zianna Elanesse (Lusby, Maryland) - Email Me
As for banning certain foods to encourage a healthier diet, having candy and other party food only for special occations helps to make it special and doesn't lead to abuse of junk food. I have a problem with candy and sugary sodas at school, but no problem with occational treats.
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