Black and orange spirit day a good alternative
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Well with Hallowe鈥檈n coming up Lynne and I thought a themed debate was in order. As we tried thinking about a topic to address surrounding Hallowe鈥檈n we remembered that schools have begun hosting a black and orange spirit day as opposed to a Hallowe鈥檈n spirit day which allows youth to dress up in their costumes. Now many schools encourage students to simply dress in orange and black when coming to school.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Now whether I agree with this or not, I鈥檓 here to argue for black and orange spirit days.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, how did this topic ever come to be in schools anyway? Inclusiveness. School administration along with School Community Councils began discussing ways to make spirit days accessible to anyone and Hallowe鈥檈n was therefore something they needed to revamp.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In 2012, a principal at a school in Cambridge, ON, said 鈥淲e wanted to make sure that no students felt that it was required of them to come to school with a costume. This is a conversation that has been happening with parent council over a number of years around being as inclusive as we can be in the school community.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The discussion surrounding the switch from Hallowe鈥檈n to black and orange day developed as early as 2005, from what my research showed.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The schools鈥� discussions pointed to multi-cultural reasons for the change to a black and orange spirit day, but it also developed because of socioeconomic reasons as well with parents unable to afford a costume.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The peer and social pressure that comes with having to find the perfect costume can be trying on kids.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 There are other reasons that schools have pointed to black and orange days over Hallowe鈥檈n as well.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 They point to it being offensive to Wiccan students as Hallowe鈥檈n is a religious day of significance to Wiccans and it needs to be respected. Additionally because it鈥檚 a religious day for some it should not be celebrated in a non-denominational school.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It goes against many religious practices and is rooted in paganism. It is a holiday or 鈥渉oly day鈥� that has been maintained by some western cultures despite it being a pagan holy day.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 As the cultural mosaic of Canada changes Hallowe鈥檈n treats conflict with family diets. At Hallowe鈥檈n who gives out kosher, halal, or vegan treats? I鈥檓 thinking not many although they do make nut free candies to hand out.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Oftentimes scary symbols focused on violence are celebrated at Hallowe鈥檈n which can be traumatizing for children. People scaring each other or dressing in realistic psycho murderer costumes can give kids nightmares and make a fun day of dress up into something traumatizing instead.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Students new to Canada find the practice very confusing and don鈥檛 understand why people dress up and go trick or treating on Hallowe鈥檈n; in fact I鈥檓 sure most kids don鈥檛 know why they get to dress up and go trick or treating it鈥檚 just something they do.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, taking Hallowe鈥檈n out of schools is therefore a reasonable thing to do in favour of a black and orange spirit day. Hallowe鈥檈n can be celebrated outside of the school and as always those participating can keep their lights on and Hallowe鈥檈n decorations up to invite youth to trick or treat there.
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Black And Orange Spirit Day: Why?
Lynne Bell
听听听听听听听听听听听 I first learned of 鈥淏lack and Orange Spirit Day鈥� from my youthful editor. Not only did she come up with the topic of this week's showdown; she showed my middle-aged self mercy and allowed me to defend Halloween celebrations in schools instead of听 this more recent, watered-down substitute, and by doing so, assured me I would win this one.
听听听听听听听听听听听 After perusing the research Kelly kindly supplied me with, I'm inclined to agree with her. But first, a disclaimer: I no longer have much skin in the Halloween game. My grown-up kids are well past it and so am I. I like seeing people have fun-especially little people in costumes. But that's about it.
听听听听听听听听听听听 I don't like horror flicks, gore, gruesome stuff and by mid-October, even autumn orange is starting to seem overdone. However, even taking my low October expectations into account, 鈥淏lack and Orange Spirit Day鈥� is a pretty sad excuse for a school celebration.
听听听听听听听听听听听 At first, I thought B&OS Day was a joke or a parody, but some schools in Canada have embraced it. (And no, I didn't check with any schools in this area, because the staff and students at every one of them have been wonderful to me, so I wanted to leave them out of this rant....But I digress...).
听听听听听听听听听听听 According to a teacher resource book used by the Toronto District School Board, arguments replacing school Halloween celebrations with B&OS Day are as follows:
1)听听听听听 Halloween is offensive to Wiccans. As my editor points out- 鈥淲hat is the Wiccan population in Canada?鈥� And did the school board in question ever ask them for their thoughts? I have a Wiccan friend (Hello, Julie from Portland!) and she loves trick-or-treaters coming to her door, so if this is a concern, it's certainly worth further investigation, rather than making assumptions that might not have any merit.
2)听听听听听 Halloween peer and social pressure is a problem. This is certainly a potential problem. But Halloween costumes can be done on a budget. And as far as other, deeper, concerns, families often find their own ways of handling things-especially since they know the privilege of putting kids in public schools allow students to be exposed to all kinds of different people with diverse beliefs and ideas. I knew a family at my kids' school who didn't celebrate Halloween for religious reasons. They were fundamentalist Christians who quietly pulled their kids out of school for Halloween and had some extra family time, instead. They said they saw it as a win-win and added that they used it as a teaching tool as far as helping their kids live out their faith within a secular setting.
3)听听听听听 Halloween imagery is at odds with some religious practices. As Kelly pointed out to me, modern Halloween is really rooted in fun and giving it deeper spiritual significance is often a case of looking for trouble where there is none.
4)听听听听听 Halloween products can conflict with family diets. Uh huh. I suspect edible Halloween products conflict with every family diet in the entire country. (Finally, we agree on something!). But seriously, school celebrations don't have to feature food; dressing up and games could easily be the focus in a classroom setting.
5)听听听听听 Halloween symbols of violence can inflict trauma on children. I agree with this one, but I also think schools-especially elementary schools- can set and enforce reasonable standards for costumes that are worn at school celebrations.
6)听听听听听 Students new to Canada have no cultural knowledge of trick-or-treating. Then this is a great, welcoming way for them to learn about a distinctly non-religious Canadian tradition.
听听听听听听听听听听听 In my humble (and freshly-formed) opinion, Black and Orange Spirit Day is almost worse than schools doing nothing to celebrate Halloween. It's a watered-down attempt to make a celebration palatable for everyone, which is impossible, really.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Schools should either embrace Halloween (within school parameters) or do nothing. However well-intentioned, Black and Orange Spirit Day is, in a word, lame.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Now, I'm off to ask my editor if听 young people still say that...And in the meantime, I wish you all a happy and safe Halloween!
