Doc: It sounds like you know a little bit. You know there is four people that get that joke. Mitchell elementary school in mead ham, Massachusetts like most schools have had a traditional Halloween party and classrooms get together, kids dress up, and share treats and sometimes trick-or-treat here and have a costume parade here. But this year Mitchell elementary school in mead HP ham, Massachusetts is ending the Halloween party. They will no longer have Halloween festivities at the school.
Kris: It is the devil?
Doc: I would respect that more. But no, no, there is another reason.
Kris: Two girls wearing something inappropriate?
Doc: Everybody becomes the slutty-whatever costume. No, we will take a break. I want you to think about it and we will get back to you after the break.
Glenn Beck. This is TheBlaze Radio Network. Truth lives here.
Doc: Mitchell Elementary school, Needham, Maine, the school said not all families celebrate Halloween so they decided to stop holding the festival in order to not exclude children. Not all families celebrate Halloween so therefore they would exclude some children.
Kris: I thought it was about cultural appropriation. People dressing like Indians.
Doc: We always had that. Trust me. In Massachusetts, the last ten years, nobody has
dressed as cowboys and Indians or anything like that. They are not dressing with sombreros or anything. This takes it to a new level. Yes, there is a lot of Christians who don't celebrate Halloween thinking it anti-Christian. It is a silly, funny, stupid holiday to dress up for kids to get candy. It is up to you. Raise your kids how you want and I support that.
But why are you shutting it down for everybody because some don't celebrate it?
Kris: Isn't the whole thing I will punish everybody because of one person?
Doc: In the past you would shut things down like Christmas parties, which was wrong, because not everybody is a Christian or Hanukkah because not everybody is Jewish. But those were based on religion. As wrong as it was to shut them down it was exclusionary based on religion. If you take part of it, you say we are forcing kids to take part in religious exercise. This is simply an event some kids chose not to be a part of. It is not actually religious. You could say your religion is excluding your children or you don't want them there because of your religion but it is not a religious holiday.
Kris: No, it's not.
Doc: This is like saying I don't want my kids to learn sex-ed so therefore we are not teaching it to anybody.
Kris: We have seen one kid allergic to peanuts and the teacher says sorry, nobody brings any peanut-related item.
Doc: It is like saying your child doesn't wear red so nobody can wear red anymore. See what I'm saying? It is nutty. Don't wear red. Don't go to the Halloween show. Don't take part. Stay home. But no, we can't do that because it is exclusionary again. Maybe I just don't want my kid to go to any party? I will keep them hope. But you have to say no, we are stopping everybody. The principal wrote a letter and wrote something the awkwardness of planning knowing not all students would be able to participate was troubling.
Do you see the awkwardness planning this class celebration knowing not all of the students would be able to participate? This isn't about the student. This is about the principal and the teachers who feel bad that some of the children may not be going and they were hurting the whole time they planned this. I don't want you to hurt but get over it. Are you upset not every kid celebrates Christmas? Kal, did you celebrate Christmas growing up?
>> Kal: Nope.
Doc: You happen to not be Christian?
Kris: That is correct.
Doc: But you went to catholic high school?
>> Kal: And college as well?
Doc: Did everybody have to stop being Christian?
>> Kal: No, it wasn't force. You had to go to theology classes and experience that but during mass you just hung out on the side.
Doc: You didn't celebrate Christmas?
>> Kal: No, not really. I did not cry about it.
Doc: Were your parents and everybody devastated? No. I get over it. It is what it is.
>> Kal: My parents sent me to private school for the education. They didn't care what we did.
Doc: On November 9th, the school will celebrate something else. William Mitchell day.
Kris: What is that?
Doc: The namesake of the elementary school. It is probably somebody of historic significance.
Kris: Do you get candy? If I were a parent I would send my kid dressed up on that day.
Doc: Something culturally inappropriate. Trick-or-treat. Wait, what do we do on William Mitchell day?
I remember when I was in second, third, fourth grade --
Kris: Long time ago. Back in the 1800s.
Doc: There was a girl we will call Kelly. She was in my class. I remember she wasn't at the Christmas party. She wasn't at the Halloween party or the Easter party or any of those. She was part of something called Jehovah Witness. Her parents didn't send her to school those days.
Kris: She was sad about it, though?
Doc: I don't know. She wasn't there.
Kris: You felt like she needed to be there?
Doc: I didn't care. I was there. No, I thought that sucks but something I don't understand. I was glad it wasn't me. But it was funny. She went to the valentine's day party.
Kris: Really? So Valentine's day was okay?
Doc: Apparently with their group.
Kris: Is there different things for different groups?
Doc: I don't know. I was in second and third and fourth grade. Don't send your kid to school or if you have problem with this send them somewhere else. Public cool is supposed to be for the masses. That is when it is. People in the community say this is absolutely fine and they don't want to take part in this fine. But if I am in the community, I would think most people are okay with a Halloween party. I am pretty ticked if they make this decision without asking the parents. I think most people say, yeah, have a Halloween party.
>> Yeah, especially because for me Halloween is a day to give candy.
Doc: Does your son love it?
Kris: He does.
Doc: Would he be upset if they cancel it?
Kris: He would be really upset.
Doc: This is one of those if you are they still do it because of the majority of others don't want it, move schools.
