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For many teachers, trying toorganize a Halloween cele-bration has become more ofa trick than a treat. Somereligious groups protest theobservance of what they consider a pagan celebrationand administrators fret about

maintaining security during events thatare, by definition, wild. Even educatorscomplain that class time devoted tocandy corn parties would be betterspent on math and science.

The number of parents coming outagainst the holiday is also on the rise,says Charles Haynes, senior scholar atthe Freedom Forum’s First AmendmentCenter in Arlington, Virginia, and anexpert on religious conflicts in schools.Evangelical Christians, Muslims, andothers oppose the celebration ofHalloween because of what they see asits pagan roots, or at least its implicitendorsement of the occult. (The holidayderives many of its traditions from anancient Celtic, or Druid, harvest festival.)

Some critics want to know why aschool can have witches in October, butcan’t have Jesus in December. Theyoften label school Halloween eventsanti-Christian or unconstitutional. Thelegal argument is incorrect, Haynessays, because schools are allowed toteach about religious subjects. “It’s notthat you can’t do it under the FirstAmendment,” he says. “The question is,should you?”

No single approach to Halloweenwill succeed everywhere, as opinionson the holiday vary widely from onecommunity to the next. “This is anissue each school needs to deal withbased on its own local issues and cir-cumstances,” says Vince Ferrandino,executive director of the

Boo Humbug...Teachers struggle toadapt old traditionswithout upsetting

Halloween fans or foes.By Gary Drevitch

DOESHALLOWEENBELONG INSCHOOL?

National Association of ElementarySchool Principals in Alexandria, Virginia.

The worst thing a school can do is uni-laterally decide in mid-October to dropthe holiday without consulting the com-munity. “Avoid any element of surprise,”Ferrandino says. “If a decision is madenot to participate where a school hasbeen participating, the community needsa clear explanation why.”

In fact, schools ought to look beyondHalloween and establish a comprehen-sive policy on all classroom holidayobservance, so that the issue doesn’treturn throughout the year. If yourschool doesn’t have a policy, considerinitiating the development of one.Involve parents, elected officials, andreligious groups in the discussion.

What’s A Teacher to Do?For a teacher in a school without a formal holiday policy, the choice onHalloween typically boils down to either celebrating the holiday (whileallowing families to opt out), or banningit altogether. Each is problematic.

An opt-out policy can be difficultbecause teachers often spend class timepreparing for Halloween, decorating and incorporating holiday content intolesson plans. “When it’s everywhere, it’simpossible to just opt out,” says Haynes,who suggests that Halloween parties beheld after school.

Teachers who respond to protests bybanning Halloween events will not find itan easy way out either. They are likely tomeet a fierce backlash from parents whodon’t want their kids to be denied the cel-ebrations they themselves grew up with.Schools from New York City to Puyallup,Washington, faced protests from angrypro-Halloween parents last year.

“Heroween,” Anyone?Many teachers take a middle-of-the-road approach to the holiday: They hold alternative celebrations that avoidHalloween but include costumes andcandy. Such celebrations typically focuson the language arts curriculum. Forevents like “Heroween,” “Hallow-read,”and “Character Day,” students come to

school dressed as favorite fictional char-acters or historical figures—fromCaptain Hook to Rosa Parks. Otherschools replace Halloween parties with afall seasonal celebration emphasizingnature and the environment.

No matter what form they take, schoolsholding events during the Halloween season are increasingly making concessions to security concerns. Manyno longer allow parents to attend partiesin costume, fearing the presence ofunidentifiable adults. Others ban allmasks, so children can always be tracked.Parades have been eliminated, as teach-ers avoid events that can’t be easily controlled. Many teachers send homeguidelines about what costumes will notbe allowed, typically barring cross-dress-ing, all manner of weapons, costumes thatspout fake blood, outfits that could beconsidered racist, inflatable “fat suits,”and get-ups that are too revealing.

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28 SCHOLASTIC INSTRUCTOR OCTO B E R / N OVEMBER 2005

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Test your Halloween smartsn WHO STARTED IT? The Celts, 2,000 yearsago. What began as a celebration of the endof the year (and a day when spirits of thedead were believed to walk the earth), laterbecame part of a three-day Christian holidaycalled Hallowmas, a combination ofHalloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.

n WHAT’S A HALLOWEEN TURNIP? In the1900’s, Irish immigrants brought Halloweento America, plus jack-o-lanterns, originallymade with turnips instead of pumpkins!

n WHAT’S IN YOUR PILLOWCASE? Last year,Americans spent more than $2 billion onHalloween candy. That’s a lot of candy corn!

n WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE? In 2004, more than 2 million people dressedup as Spider-man, making it the most popular costume of the year. Also in the top20: clowns, witches, princesses, firefighters,SpongeBob, and Harry Potter.

Learning: What a Treat!No matter how their school celebratesthe holiday, many teachers say there’s noreason to shy away from the Halloweendebate in the classroom. “Anytime youhave a controversy, you have a teachablemoment,” says Jeff Passe, a formerfourth-grade teacher who is now presi-dent of the National Council for theSocial Studies.

Bill Amburn, a seventh-grade social-studies teacher at Central Middle Schoolin Bartlesville, Oklahoma, says teachersneed to talk about Halloween “becauseso many kids really don’t have any ideawhere it came from. They think it’s just anight to go wild.”

Amburn shares articles on Halloweenwith his students and urges them tothink critically about what place the hol-iday should have in society. For exam-ple, the modern practice of trick or treatevolved in the 1920s and 1930s, in partbecause young people were committingserious acts of vandalism on October 31.Groups like the Boy Scouts stepped inand encouraged adults to offer treats tocostumed kids to ward off their “tricks.”This information can lead to a discus-sion of law, civics, and responsibility.

Passe recommends approaching theholiday from a historical perspectiveand discussing its evolution. “It’s notpassed down from the Bible, after all,”he says. There’s also an economicangle: How does a holiday become amajor economic event through themarketing of costumes, candy, andparties, and does this create pressureto celebrate it? Finally, there’s thesociological question: Why do peoplecelebrate holidays?

A teacher could lead any number oflively discussions on the nature ofHalloween, but an in-class party isanother issue. Even if a party is sched-uled for the end of the day, Passe says,every teacher knows that the attendantexcitement “makes it a tough day toteach anything.” nn

WRITER GARY DREVITCH FREQUENTLY COVERS FAMILY ISSUES AND EDUCATION. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:DOES HALLOWEEN BELONG IN SCHOOL? E-MAIL US AT INSTRUCTOR@SCHOLASTIC.COM

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