My school had kids as young as two and as old as seniors in high school. I attended that school from age 14 until I graduated in 2018. 

The school was pretty standard, rule-wise. In fact, it was progressive compared to other schools in the surrounding area. For example, we did not have a dress code, other than “all students must wear clothing,” and “no students may wear clothing with offensive words, and/or slurs.” 

The rules, although sometimes irritating, made sense. So I was surprised when in October of my senior year it was announced at a weekly assembly that Halloween would not be celebrated. 

This meant no costumes, decorations, and or Halloween parade. I was 18. I had not worn costumes to school in years and I quickly moved on. 

But a couple months ago, I came across an article that said other schools are doing the same thing. Simply put, the argument is that not all children celebrate Halloween, so it is not inclusive, and since some costumes could be offensive to other students, some school administrators feel that it is just too difficult to regulate costumes.Instead, it would be easier to eliminate the celebration altogether.

I am not a fan of censorship, c it is arguably one of the things that holds us back the most. Not talking about certain things or hiding things simply causes more problems. 

I also don’t think this is censorship.I think this is a lazy coverup. If a school wants to ban Halloween out of fear of exclusion, then there should be no Christmas trees, no menorahs, no winter concerts with songs about holiday traditions. Valentine’s Day would have to go too since it’s about St. Valentine, a Christian saint. You see what I’m getting at.

Caring about inclusivity in schools would be making a legitimate effort to diversify your curriculum, staff, and educate your students on other cultures.

 This is not about the kids and as adults in the education field, administrators should be honest. Be honest that they don’t want to deal with creating new and extensive policies that are inclusive of all students, and be honest about what their intentions are. I mean is that not what you want to teach children?