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Denise Albert: Mamarazzi
Halloween treat bags for the other kids?
Filed under: Activities: Babies, Holidays, Day Care & Education
My wife is a first grade teacher and as such generally prepares Halloween treat bags for her students containing, pencils, erasers, and, yes, a few sweets. Some of her students, however, do not celebrate Halloween and their parents opt to have them not participate in the festivities. In the past, my wife and the other teachers have prepared treat bags for those kids with items unrelated to Halloween.This year, however, some of the teachers have said they are not going to put together the extra bags; if the students do not participate, they should not get a treat bag. So, my wife asked me what I thought and I, in turn, am asking you. Should students who do not celebrate Halloween get a treat bag, even one that does not contain any Halloween-specific items?
On the one hand, you don't want the kids to feel left out; they're already standing out enough as it is for not joining in. Plus, why shouldn't they get to enjoy a treat just like their peers? Not giving them a treat bag is like punishing them for their (or their parents') beliefs.
On the other hand, however, you also don't want to undermine the parents' authority in regards to what their children celebrate -- and even a plain treat bag, given on Halloween as other kids get Halloween treats, could be considered participating. Personally, I'm a contrarian, so I would probably say "forget the parents; give the kids candy," but that's not really being helpful, now is it? So what do you all think?
| Absolutely! It's bad enough they don't get to join in the fun. | |
|---|---|
| Sure, as long as there are no Halloween-themed items in it. | |
| Probably not -- it means they're participating in a way. | |
| Absolutely not! No Halloween costume, no treat bag. |
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-28-2008 @ 2:23PM
Jenni said...Why not ask the parents what they prefer? If they don't want them to participate for some reasons, they may not want their child to get a bag. Others may have different reasons for not participating and would be okay with them getting a bag.
Now, if a child doesn't participate in an activity and the parent takes them out of school for the day, would they know that they missed out?
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10-28-2008 @ 2:30PM
Jenn said...I agree with Jenni (and no, we're not the same person =P)...why not ask the parents?
If the teachers are going to make up and give out treat bags, they need to make them for all of their students, and then leave it up to the families to decide if they will accept them.
It is not the teacher's place to decide if the child will participate or not. If they don't want to "make the effort" to include all the kids, then they shouldn't do it for any of them.
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10-28-2008 @ 3:18PM
Nicola said...My son's school simply doesn't celebrate Halloween. They do some fall crafts and make it a slightly less structured morning work period, but there is nothing specifically related to Halloween involved. My take on it would be that if some kids are not permitted to "celebrate" Halloween, then perhaps it should not be an activity for school. Make it a home celebration and allow everybody to enjoy the holiday without either offending or excluding those who don't want to participate.
If treat bags are going to be involved in school and there are some kids who are not permitted to participate in Halloween, there is no simple answer. Giving them a "non-Halloween themed" bag is still celebrating Halloween! The candy that we're giving out on Friday isn't Halloween themed, but it is being given out when you ring my doorbell because it IS Halloween. So either the school needs to say no treat bags, or those kids simply need to deal with the fact that they are unable to participate in the treat bags.
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10-28-2008 @ 4:29PM
Kimberly Coleman said...I agree with the Jens....ask the parents.
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10-29-2008 @ 8:52AM
Uly said...Just my thoughts.
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10-28-2008 @ 11:37PM
Mary said...Being one of those parents whose child is "punished" for my beliefs, I thought you'd want to hear from me. No, we do not celebrate or acknowledge Halloween, for a multitude of reasons. And no, I would not want my son to bring home any gift, toy or candy related to Halloween, however well intentioned the giver may be. In fact I would probably throw it away, so from my perspective it would probably be better (and less expensive!) for your wife to only give treat bags to the students whose families participate in this holiday. As a teacher myself, I definitely appreciate the time and energy she has put into doing these little extras for her students. As a mom, I would hope that my beliefs would not ever cause you to label my child as "punished" or "standing out". You see, he doesn't think he "stands out". He just thinks that there are some kids who trick or treat, and others, like him, who don't. For the record, he gets to go to Chuck E. Cheez or the neighborhood block party instead.
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10-29-2008 @ 1:39AM
Sharon said...I am also a teacher and I lean towards Autumn or Fall treats instead for all the students. No harm in celebrating the season. At home I do trick-or-treat, but respect those who do not. However, we have been to Chuck E. Cheez once and do not plan on going again. B-A-D idea, everything is centered towards pediatric gambling. It is crazy! Although, I have friends and relatives who love it. To each their own and lets celebrate "Fall Festival."
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10-29-2008 @ 1:07PM
ninainindia said...I really dislike PC things like Fall Festival instead of Halloween or Winter vacation instead of Christmas vacation. We all know why the festival/vacation is at that time and it doesn't make sense to pretend it's for another reason.
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10-30-2008 @ 1:42PM
Simply Put Together said...This will get you in the mood for Halloween!
www.simplyputtogether.blogspot.com/
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