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Son of a VET
Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 791
Location: TN
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 Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:10 pm Post subject: School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches |
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| Quote: | School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches
District Bans a Planned Celebration, Calling It a Waste of Time
PUYALLUP, Wash., Oct. 21, 2004 -- A Washington state school district is canceling its annual Halloween celebration, and the explanation has some parents baffled.
"Let them have their 30 minutes of dressing goofy and having candy," Silas Macon, a father of two school-age girls, said Wednesday outside Maplewood Elementary School after learning that the grade-school tradition of a party and parade in costume during the last half-hour of class before Halloween night won't happen this year in the district.
A letter sent home to parents Wednesday said there will be no observance of Halloween in any of the district's schools.
"We really want to make sure we're using all of our time in the best interest of our students," Puyallup School District spokeswoman Karen Hansen said.
The superintendent made the decision for three primary reasons, Hansen said. First, Halloween parties and parades waste valuable classroom time. Second, some families can't afford costumes and the celebrations thus can create embarrassment for children.
Both of those reasons seemed sensible to the parents who spoke to ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle. But the district's third reason left some Puyallup parents shaking their heads.
The district said Halloween celebrations and children dressed in Halloween costumes might be offensive to real witches.
"Witches with pointy noses and things like that are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion and so we want to be respectful of that," Hansen said.
The Wiccan, or Pagan, religion is said to be growing in the United States and there are Wiccan groups in Puyallup.
On the district's list of guidelines related to holidays and celebrations is an item that reads: "Use of derogatory stereotypes is prohibited, such as the traditional image of a witch, which is offensive to members of the Wiccan religion."
"I do lots of things that are not revolving around wearing a black outfit and stirring a cauldron," Wiccan priestess Cheryl Sulyma-Masson said in an interview with ABC News in which she explained that Wiccans, or Pagan Clergy, celebrate nature
This is not the first time the district has expressed concern about offending followers of the Wiccan religion.
An internal e-mail from October 2000 warned that "the Wiccan religion is a bona fide religion under the law, and its followers are entitled to all the protections afforded more mainstream religions. Building administrators should not tolerate such inappropriate stereotyping (images such as Witches on flying brooms, stirring cauldrons, casting spells, or with long noses and pointed hats) and instead address them as you would hurtful stereotypes of any other minority."
This year, however, is the first time the superintendent decided to cite that concern as one of the reasons for canceling in-school Halloween activities.
"They're so worried about being politically correct anymore that we're not allowed to do much of anything," said Tonya Reynolds, whose daughter attends Maplewood Elementary.
"If you don't want costumes, call it a harvest party. We don't have to take out complete Halloween. We could still do something for our children," said parent Loni Andrews, who promised to challenge the ruling at the next school board meeting.
Some children said they will miss the usual festivities.
"Yeah, it does bother me because I would really like to go around and dress up," Maplewood sixth-grader Grace Macon said.
Macon said that while the Halloween celebration might take up a little class time, it also gives children a reason to like school.
"I think it's terrible," she said. "I think it just kind of takes away from the little stuff they get to do that's fun at school."
Hansen said questions of lost study time and disrespect for religious belief played into the decision.
"It's a little bit of both," she said. "I don't think you can balance respect with instructional time and we would always be looking to do both. We want to make sure our students are respectful of all religions and all cultures.
Hansen also said that the PTA and teachers have been notified that they can hold parties or other Halloween events after the school day is over. Classroom time, however, will not be used for Halloween celebrations. Hansen says concerns about other holidays and parties held in school will be decided on a case-by-case basis |
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=184701&page=1
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Chuck54
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Joined: 14 Aug 2004
Posts: 466
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Its not just the witches they offend, but all the werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and goblins that have been so disrespected for all these years. Heres to the Puyallup school district.....good on you for pooping the party!! 
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"And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often, than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry"
Zell Miller |
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Navy_Navy_Navy
Admin
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 5777
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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Orange frosted cupcakes with candy-corn facial features, red candied apples, popcorn balls, getting the costumes together, skeletons and green-faced witches, fairies and hoboes, trick-or-treating, haunted houses in peoples' garages, carving pumpkins, roasting the seeds, the smell of burning pumpkin from the candles....
I'm so sorry that our children and grandchildren have been cheated out of some of the fun of this holiday.
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Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother |
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Snipe
Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 574
Location: Peoria, Illinois
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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I'll have to tell The War Department about that. She graduated from
Hogwarts....Slytherin!
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jataylor11
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 856
Location: Woodbridge, Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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| They could have a point --- people may also be confused with all those kids/adults dressed up as Tereza Heinz --- too many look alikes. |
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lonevoice
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 105
Location: OKC and God help me, stuck in Wichita now...
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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What's next?
Take out the salad bar as to not offend those who worship heads of lettuce???
SHEESH!!!
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It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.
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If it's not a baby, you're not pregnant.
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Last edited by lonevoice on Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Spiess
Lieutenant
Joined: 30 Jul 2004
Posts: 246
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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I saw this on drudge
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SangRun Hunter
PO1
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 462
Location: Zinzinnati
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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I think this has more to do with Turr- razza and the witch thing 
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Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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I suppose they will want a resolution passes next!  |
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neverforget
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
Posts: 875
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Big warts with hair growing out, on big noses are now banned.
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1965-1971 |
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RogerRabbit
Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 05 Sep 2004
Posts: 748
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | "We really want to make sure we're using all of our time in the best interest of our students," Puyallup School District spokeswoman Karen Hansen said.
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One good way is to try educating he children with the 3Rs and forget the PC crappo
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"Si vis pacem, para bellum" |
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Chukkal
Ensign
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 69
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:52 pm Post subject: Where's My Moron Outfit? |
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| Just one more moronic idea resonating from the liberal state of Washington........... |
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julsmith
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 41
Location: Westfield, IN
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| Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:14 am Post subject: |
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And I thought Halloween just offended Christians!
Wow, here's a novel idea, maybe Christians should dress up at Halloween JUST to offend the Wiccans!
Things are getting a little too twisted........ |
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:49 am Post subject: |
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I'm just gonna vomit! What next?! Common sense tells me it isn't really all at once, we just have information sources like this and know more!
Last edited by Rdtf on Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:57 am; edited 2 times in total |
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msindependent
Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 891
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| This means they think witches are real, not too smart. |
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