A Kinder, Gentler Halloween

In Utah Schools Halloween About “Good Things, Happy Things”

By Amy Seigel, 10-31-06

It was bound to happen. In an era when schools are banning the game of “tag” because it’s too violent and rough, or because it creates self esteem issues amongst the weaker and slower children, it isn’t too surprising to hear that Utah schools are doing their best to make Halloween a little less, well, scary.

According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune, many local elementary schools are discouraging students from wearing costumes that “depict violence.” Instead, schools like Bonneville Elementary are suggesting that students “consider wearing costumes that depict characters with positive moral values” such as doctors, firefighters, or characters from the most recent Disney movie. Of course, all weapons (real or make believe), from pirates’ daggers to the Grim Reaper’s scythe, are strictly forbidden.

Clearly, in an era when schoolyard violence captures more than its fair share of headlines, it seems prudent to have an eye to keeping aggression, in all forms, out of our schools. But just how far is too far? Principal Patricia Rowse of Hawthorne Elementary seemed to have utterly lost track of what Halloween is all about when she told the Tribune that “We just think that Halloween should be an enjoyable time where we're thinking about good things, happy things, not relating things to violence alone.” Not to fly in the face of political correctness, but since when is Halloween about “good things, happy things?” While this may not be the place to get into the history of the holiday, I am pretty sure it has something to do with things supernatural and though not necessarily violent, still somewhat scary or spooky or…anything but Disney princesses and Winnie The Pooh!

Like it or not, it seems probable that these sorts of guidelines are here to stay. Add to these new policies the fact that in the days leading up to Halloween we are flooded with stories from the news media about the dangers of even letting your kid go out trick-or-treating—poison candy, dark streets, flammable costumes and vision-impairing masks—and you have one great holiday that our fearful, paranoid culture has all but ruined irreparably for generations of children to come. But given these—real or imagined—concerns, most parents seem to be all for the shift towards a kindler, gentler Halloween. Kristin Richardson, the mother of a North Star elementary student who dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween this year, believes that Halloween should “stay fun.” “Life is scary enough,” said Richardson. Sure, life may be scary, but just give us a few years and we’ll make certain that Halloween is not.

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