I recently learned that my sons’ grade school will no longer allow students to dress up or have a costume parade as part of their fall celebration. When I heard the news, I immediately regressed back to second grade and reacted accordingly.
You would have thought someone punched a unicorn in the face and stole Kirk Cameron from my arms!
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S NO MORE COSTUME PARADE? THE COSTUME PARADE IS FREAKIN’ AWESOME!”
The school’s reasoning was two-fold:
1. To protect education hours.
2. To keep the fall party time intact.
Had the school’s parent-teacher association elected to continue the long-standing tradition of the costume parade, the block of time for class parties (which has also come under recent fire) would have been cut to only 15 minutes. Hardly worth the effort to organize. Without the parade, the children will have roughly 40 minutes to eat, drink, and bounce off the walls.
I was told the PTA mulled over their options and decided to nix the parade with the principal’s support.
Maybe I have no room to vent since my involvement in the PTA up to this point has been to pay the dues, carry a membership card, and assist with parties every 1.5 years?
Even so… I am bummed about this decision, but I know that all decisions are made to benefit the students.
I believe there is great value in allowing children to socially interact with their peers and forge relationships. I would argue that these skills are just as important to my children’s futures as succeeding academically.
Don’t believe me?
Then answer this question: “Would you rather work with a genius who always has the answers, but refuses to collaborate with others or with someone who doesn’t have all of the answers, but has a network of peers to solve practically any problem you present?”
My preschool daughter won’t know what it’s like to experience a school costume parade. Luckily for us, we live in a neighborhood that is literally hopping on Halloween. Not every kid has the chance to go from door to door showing off their imaginative alter-egos and scooping up handfuls of candy.
Our children will evolve into working adults one day… sooner than many of us care to accept. There will be plenty of rigorous guidelines for them to follow. For now, I just want them to be pirates, ghouls and fairy tale characters.
Halloween 2011
Heidi Woodard is married with three children. Read her Thursdays on momaha.com
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Does your child’s school still have a costume parade, class party, or both? What are your thoughts on eliminating traditions from school that you participated in as a child?
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