By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

SEATTLE – A Seattle elementary school is facing backlash from parents and students following its decision to ban Halloween celebrations this year.

Lafayette Elementary School made the decision last week to prohibit students from wearing Halloween costumes to school, but there is some discrepancy as to why the ban was implemented in the first place.

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The district first reported that the ban was a “preventative measure in the event that Halloween costumes could offend and upset students from other cultures,” according to CBS Seattle.

But Lafayette Principal Shauna Heath more recently said the decision was made because it takes away from valuable learning time. Seattle Public Schools only have a half-day of instruction on Halloween this year.

“This decision was made by the entire staff after two deep and detailed discussions,” Heath wrote in an email sent to media outlets. “The initial conversation was initiated by staff members who suggested that since Halloween falls this year on a half day of school, we not allow costumes. It takes students a while to change into their costumes, and students are distracted taking away from the already limited instructional time.”

It seems to us that a half-day of school, where only so much instruction could take place, anyway, would be an ideal day for the traditional Halloween parties that mean so much to youngsters.

Many parents and students are disappointed and say the school is trying to be too politically correct.

“That discussion did come up…that we have to be sensitive to the fact that there are kids from different cultures, different religions (who are offended by Halloween), but that wasn’t the reason for making that decision,” Teresa Wippel, a spokeswoman for Seattle Public Schools, told KCPQ-TV.

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Fourth-grader Leilani Nitkey was devastated by the news. “I was just really sad and I had to fight back tears,” she told the TV station.

“It seems like another one of those things where kids are no longer allowed to be kids,” parent Hart Rusen told KCPQ.

Administrators said that despite the objections, the costume ban stands, although they will revisit the issue next year.

In lieu of a costume party, the school will be hosting a “Harvest Party.” As if that won’t cut into instructional time.

We strongly suspect that the cultural sensitivity concern is playing a bigger role than school officials will admit. If that were not the case, why wouldn’t they schedule a “Halloween” party at a different time, rather than a “Harvest Party?” They clearly have a problem with the concept of Halloween.

That’s silly and unfair to the vast majority of children who love their Halloween traditions. If we were to move to Brazil or Cambodia, we might find some local traditions odd and even offensive to accepted American culture. But we would no longer be in America and we would have no right to impose our standards on the Brazilians or Cambodians.

If kids from other cultures are offended by Halloween, schools can give them the option of separate activities. But they should never cancel a popular tradition because one or two children might not understand or appreciate it.