Local schools seek neutrality on Halloween

By Renee Cumm
Witches, vampires and monsters of all kinds roam the streets once every year. Halloween is conventionally, a night that a large amount of people look forward to and participate in. The elementary school parades, parties and trick-or-treat traditions are not new customs to upstate New York. These traditions have been around for years. Where they have originated and what they stand for is argued among various religions. Some religious groups disagree with certain festivities related to Halloween and will refuse to participate in them. Local schools try to maintain some balance as they schedule events around Oct. 31.
Director of the Long Island Council of Churches, Reverend Tom Goodhue, does not object to celebrating Halloween instead he promotes the idea that teachers should be more involved in learning about many faiths. That could mean inviting someone outside of the school to come into the school and discuss such issues with the faculty and students.
“You have to acknowledge the religious history when celebrating holidays,” said Goodhue.
Oak Elementary School of Plattsburgh will be hosting a Halloween parade on Oct. 30, at 1:30 a.m. An event that may be harmless to most students could be offensive to some. There are very few students who do not participate in such Halloween festivities and for those that do not there isn’t much hype from their parents.
“We do not have any policies on Halloween…decisions we make about the school are not focused on any one religion,” Superintendant of Plattsburgh Schools, James Short said.
When asked about Halloween festivities within the school Short said, “It’s unbelievable the amount of pressure we get from parents who want it…to the families who don’t want to participate, we do offer places for those kids to go,” Short said.
Those students who do not participate are usually dismissed from classes for the day. Usually the issue is related to religion and the parents are not inclined to allow their child to be a part of certain festivities that may go against their religious background.
“Halloween has become associated with some non-Christian traditions that are Wiccan or Pagan in nature,” Goodhue said. Paganism is considered to Goodhue as a modern form of Druid culture.
Druids can be traced back 2,000 years. They originated from Ireland, United Kingdom and northern France. Druids would celebrate their new year on Nov. 1. They believed that on the night of Oct. 31, the living and the dead were more connected. They believed that spirits helped their priests to make predictions about the future and they would often wear costumes to celebrate. The American tradition of trick-or-treating could date back to early parades that were held in England. The poor were given “soul cakes” as long as they prayed for their dead relative according to, www.history.com.
This early form of customary practice among the Druids launched the creation of some modern Pagan traditional festivities. Some of these festivities have been proven to be controversial among Christians.
For most Christians, Halloween marks the eve of All Saints Day which would fall on Nov.1. It is believed to have derived from middle ages and it is custom to join in a festival to honor all of the saints who have died, according to www.stpaulskingsville.org/allsaints.htm .
Ellen Cronk has been a Christian all of her life. She never objected to anything that her children would wear for costumes and she has decorated her house with ghost, ghouls and goblin ornaments that were made by her father.
“I have no problem participating in Halloween traditions,” Cronk said.
Reverend Goodhue also currently participates in some Halloween festivities. His main concern is with schools that allow students to participate in festivities that contain them and with people who do not attempt to understand other religions. He believes that most objective Christians whom object to such festivities see them to be a form of Paganism rituals representing the opposite of Christianity.
Goodhue is a protestant. He said that some of the Halloween traditions that have developed over time are extremely secular and certain Christian religious elements have been lost or distorted.
“It gets mixed up with trick-or-treating and orgies of candy eating,” Goodhue said.
It is traditional for Charles Harageones to place a Jack O’ Lantern on his front porch to, “rid off evil spirits,” he said.
Harageones has been a Pagan for eight years. For him Halloween is a fun day to celebrate. He will dress in a costume and he will, “dance, sing, feast and be merry”.
Harageones said his goal as a Pagan is to do his part in remaining harmonious with nature and human culture. He wants to help others to understand nature and tries to stay away from any negative energy.
“I’m going to have fun and honor the cycles of nature,” Harageones said.People should do what they feel helps them out as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else,” he went on to say.
Reverend Goodhue said that people should get to their neighbors religiously and school districts should establish some general policies about religious freedom.
“We go out of our way and our curriculum…we acknowledge diversity when our parents express certain wishes to be honored”, superintendant of Beekmantown Schools, Scott Amo said.
Amo said that permissions slips are sent home with students before events take place. They must be signed in order for a child to participate.
“It’s not just Halloween as an anti-religious position it’s the scariness,” said Amo.
Some parents have shown concern over the gory costumes and violent nature that has evolved around Halloween. Beekmantown Schools have set limitations as to what students can wear. They encourage students to dress in story book characters or something of that nature. He said that some parents don’t understand such limitation because some traditions are commonplace for them. To find a way to accommodate all of the students the teachers and the principle get together and discuss to what extent they will get involved in certain festivities.
“We must show a balance and sensitivity,” said Amo
Anyone who objects to Halloween whether it is to maintain the separation of religious practices or they don’t agree with certain festivities can choose to something less conventional.
Goodhue said that Christians who do not want to associate themselves with certain festivities will do alternative things such as haunted hay rides or they will dress their children in harvest related costumes.
“You have to be sensitive to religious beliefs…parents may not want their child to participate in certain festivities,” Goodhue said.
The Plattsburgh Church of Christ will be hosting a fall festival, according to preacher, Doug Kashorek. There will be a costume contest, food and painting. He said that children are encouraged to wear festive costumes and that excludes anything gory that signifies death. Also, a quadriplegic painter, Jack Stone, will be demonstrating how he paints his art with his mouth and he will allow children to attempt to do the same.
Although there are alternatives for dissimilar parents to enjoy the night, the number of those parents has not increased according to superintendant, Amo, but more parents are developing an interest or involvement on the issue.
“More and more families are growing conscious and asking questions," Amo said.