Kim disagreed with the decision for the school staff to downplay Halloween and brought some points of argument to the school. I think the strongest argument she had was about the opportunity to teach new Canadians about Canadian traditions. Every international student I have met or my family has hosted was very excited to experience Halloween. Even in Europe, Halloween is not anything like what it is in Canada and it is a unique experience that the students I have met can not wait to be a part of. Do I believe in Kim’s argument that celebrating Halloween is a fundamental part of the Canadian experience? Yes and no, because it’s just one experience one day a year and is not always celebrated the same from one family or community to another. In addition, just because there are no Halloween celebrations in a class does not mean that a child is suddenly being deprived of Halloween. Once a student is home, their parents can decide how they want their child to celebrate Halloween. One of the weakest arguments I think Kim made was that Halloween offered an opportunity for children to learn about proper nutrition. Besides teachers constantly having to ask students to not eat candy for every snack and meal in class, I have not seen how Halloween offers to the discussion of healthy eating.
After having to teach a lesson to students right after Halloween I understand the teachers perspective on wanting to minimize the celebration in the school to reduce the disruptions that Halloween brings. However, I think that completely removing anything Halloween theme would not improve student behaviour or reduce the stress young children might experience around that celebration because it will still be celebrated outside of school. The approach I have been seeing more recently in classes is sticking to more of a fall theme or have an alternative to a Halloween activity for students that might not celebrate. Another approach I have seen some teachers take is to teach students about celebrations from multiple different cultures that happen around the same time as a common holiday or event celebrated in North America. I think that idea can address the comments and concerns of both sides of the Halloween argument.