What if every day were Halloween?
Initially this sounds like a very, very bad idea. Children going door to door demanding and consuming large quantities of sugar? Every day?! It’s a teacher’s and parent’s nightmare.
But hear me out. In school, there are some very specific guidelines for celebrating Halloween that would be useful if we could abide by them every day.
No masks
On Halloween students are not allowed to wear masks to school for safety reasons. What if children never wore emotional masks? What if the child who WON’T do the work told you the truth is he CAN’T do the work? What if the children who insist that they are fine when they are anything but told you how they are really feeling inside? What if that overachiever admitted that she was really desperate for your approval instead of being desperate for the extra point you didn’t give her? It would make our jobs a lot easier if our students never wore masks. But they do. Our job is to look behind those masks every day and get our students the help they need.
No weapons
On Halloween students aren’t allowed to bring toy guns, swords, or other weapons that are part of their costumes. What if students never brought emotional weapons to school? I’m talking about sarcasm, exclusion, put-downs, and name-calling. We have great kids in Verona, but let’s stay committed to our mission to prevent bullying. It’s great to wear blue to make a statement against bullying. It’s better when you see something happening in your classroom or your hallways or the lunchroom and you make your statement right then and there by speaking up. Do not look away. Talk to your administrators and your school counselors. There is a difference between conflict and bullying, but it is far better to speak up and be wrong about your concerns than to stay silent and be right.
Be whatever you want as long as it isn’t too scary
Ok, so the guideline isn’t exactly written that way but you have to admit that statement has a bit of a ring to it. Halloween is a day when kids get to dress up and be whatever they want as long as the costume is in good taste. Be whatever you want as long as you don’t hurt anybody. What a great motto for life. If you can dream it, you can be it. Empower your students and accept your students as they are. They are counting on you.
What if every day were Halloween? I don’t think it would be so bad. Pass me a Milk Dud and have a happy Halloween!
Jennifer Kleinknecht has been the media specialist at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School since 2007. She writes about life as a school librarian on her blog, “The ‘Yes’ Librarian”.
Photo by Julia Raasch on Unsplash
What a fantastic post!
Thank you!
Your talents never cease to amaze me.You touch the hearts of both students and teachers in every lesson you present and every smile you share. So beautifully written….