I also sought an expert opinion on the topic, posing the question to Ben: "Hey Magoo, there's a school in town that has decided not to let kids wear costumes on Halloween. NO PICTURES PLEASE; we are all grown up we know how to follow rules. And that explanation generally rests—at least for Halloween costumes, student clothing, or student grooming standards in general—on pretty solid legal and constitutional grounds. Blocking out that portion of the discussion as completely irrelevant, the rest of the discussion was very balanced. 2. The announcement was not surprising, given the trend to dial-back Halloween celebrations in public schools. Each year, our students display some of the most well designed costumes that require a lot of thought and planning. Solution to #3: Make sure costume is indoor friendly. Every year, school teachers and administrators grapple with the decision whether or not to allow students to celebrate Halloween on campus. *To avoid frightening our younger students, please avoid facepaint or masks. Also kids should know better respect other peoples property. From the 1980s and beyond, TV characters, celebrities and famous singers are among the costumes worn at Halloween. Besides, a defiant costume wearing kindergartner will likely substantially disrupt his class, especially if the class is trying to learn all about the wonderful festivities that occur in the Fall and he’s exclaiming “how dare you enter my kingdom!.”. There are restrictions on some costumes — for instance, no masks, no simulated weapons and no blood-and-guts makeup. As for the reasons for cancelling Halloween, public schools generally give at least one of the following explanations for eliminating Halloween from the school calendar: Halloween celebrations are religious observances and, if held at a public school, violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment; or; Students with religious objections will not participate in Halloween celebrations or … . Children kept coming to school with more realistic — and more disturbing — costumes. The school quickly banned the armbands (but didn’t ban political buttons) suspended the students, and set the stage for a Supreme Court decision. Go to the office!" Solution to #6: Create a quiet environment with appropriate activities for these students, whilst the other students go about on the parade. Why wouldn't they just put on their costumes at home? As for the reasons for cancelling Halloween, public schools generally give at least one of the following explanations for eliminating Halloween from the school calendar: The first reason is specious, given how secularized Halloween has become—no one is suggesting we’re celebrating All Saints’ Day or going back to celebrating the pagan tradition of Samhain, with divination rituals, a ring of stones, and the summoning of fairies. "But Mrs. So-and-so, I just felt like wearing my overalls today!" student is constitutionally protected speech.”. Of those 32 students, 27 agreed that it was a good idea to wear costumes. Here’s the simple answer: because that’s what your school said. ", "Oh, okay. Not a hard solution. There are definitely plausible reasons as to why a school would not allow its students to wear costumes on Halloween. *You may wish to send a change of clothes for your child. 3. That was the general gist of  Tinker, which also said that the case did not relate to “the length of skirts or the type of clothing, to hair style, or deportment.” And that’s Augie’s problem. What does that even mean? Why Can't My Child Bring a Halloween Mask to School? Students at Hillcrest Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, will not be permitted to wear their Halloween costume to the school’s fall festival on October 31, and are instead encouraged to wear their favorite hat. 13 Reasons Why surrounds an incredibly serious subject matter that shouldn't be taken lightly and 13 Reasons Why Halloween costumes should ... Baker, a high school … *Costumes must comply with our standards of appropriate dress. Given the descriptive trajectory of legal cases dealing with public school students’ First Amendment rights—from Tinker to BONG HiTS 4 JESUS to Boobies—what’s an activist kindergartener to do if he’s jonesing to buck the system by wearing a medieval knight costume to school? Sadly, that much anticipated and welcomed change has yet to be announced. Take, for instance, a New Mexico high school student who wore sagging pants to school, in violation of the school’s dress code. ©2021 Verizon Media. Of the three explanations schools use to do away with Halloween, the third one rests most solidly on legal grounds. Wait, I don't really get that. They will actually be sent home from school on Halloween if they wear a costume to school. I think they should be allowed to wear costumes. None of the reasons mentioned in the original post had anything to with religion, for one, so that's not even under discussion. The majority of the conversation centered around the issue of parents/caregivers not being given a chance to try to problem-solve these issues, which most agree could have been done easily. Just wear a black armband with “I ♥ Goblins (Keep Halloween)” on it as a protest over the school’s elimination of your favorite holiday. 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