The Trouble with Political Correctness
MIDDLETOWN - Remember the good old days when we were young in school? We used to sing Christmas and Hanukkah songs during our holiday concerts and we were all provided a multicultural experience by learning about and appreciating Kwanza and Ramadan and other celebrations alike.

       Nowadays the political correctness police are systematically pulling anything that â€"offends” any group, no matter how ridiculous. This is most evident in our public school system, where many towns are taking away any mention of traditional secular celebrations such as Halloween. Towns like Newington just made headlines as all its Halloween parties have been canceled in lieu of â€"Harvest Celebrations.”

       For those claiming Halloween is a Christian religious tradition, I would highly disagree with this statement. Yes, at its roots, Halloween had Christian origins as a feast celebrating the eve before All Saints Day or All Hallows Day. Some scholars also believe that Halloween had pagan roots. I am a raised protestant Christian myself who married a devout Catholic wife. Our religious upbringings always treated Halloween as secular and never considered Halloween a religious holiday by any stretch. I know we are not in the minority in this belief.

       As a child, Halloween was always considered just a fun time during the fall when kids could blow off a little steam and dress in costumes while loading up on candy. We used to attend Halloween parties and when we went to school, everyone enjoyed singing Halloween songs, decorating pumpkins and holding classroom parties. Oh, how times have changed.

       I understand that we have to be careful passing out candy and sweets these days because of food allergies, but why do administrators need to keep taking away what has been a traditional secular staple of American life because the holiday offends a minority of â€"constituencies” in town? I can even sympathize with kids who might feel left out because of a religious objection to the holiday, but that is a choice their parents make. The school should accommodate those kids and let them play in the gym or go outside for extra recess and have fun too and not ruin the tradition for all. These administrators are catering to a very small minority of the student population, essentially quashing the fun for the majority. It’s indicative of inane political correctness in our school systems.

       So my question is, where does this all end? If the kids can’t celebrate Halloween, doesn’t that mean we also have to cancel Valentine’s Day and Saint Patrick’s Day? Those holidays are not considered religious, per se, but, like most things, they have roots in Catholicism. To take it a step further, why not just cancel Christmas vacation? The school systems have already ordered the teachers not to sing Christmas or Hanukkah songs or even mention the holidays. Yet Islam is being taught in our schools more every year but very little is ever taught about the origins of Judaism and Christianity, which are the founding principles to the laws of our Constitution. Speaking of our nation, I think we need to stop saying the pledge of allegiance in the morning, too, because it might offend atheists because the phrase â€"under God” is ingrained in the pledge. Once you go down this slippery slope of excluding everything deemed â€"offensive,” then you cease being inclusionary and end up becoming the thing you are most trying avoid, which is exclusionary.

       Hey, if people want a complete separation of church and state then do not teach or promote anything about religion in our schools. Let’s make the school system so divisive and intolerant that our kids can only learn technical reading, math and science. The Common Core curriculum is out of control and ruining the holistic approach to learning, which made this country the leader of the free world for the past 60 years. When children receive proper history, social studies and humanities educations, these subjects serve to enhance the math, reading and science teachings, making them more fulfilled academically. Why do you think so many foreign international families try to come to this country? The reason is simple: They seek an education and better life for their children. We must have been doing something right for this to be, but now that is all changing for the worse.

       This is not a new phenomenon, as this PC battle has been raging on for decades. My mother was a music teacher in â€"progressive” West Hartford for 37 years. She was a very inclusive educator who taught music from all cultures, countries and religious affiliations because that provided the children a well-rounded vision of music. Yet for years the administrators picked away at her approach until they watered down her curriculum to exclude music with any religious affiliation. She retired a number of years ago so they hadn’t yet attacked Halloween when she was still teaching, but did change Valentine’s Day to â€"Good Friends Day,” which is another complete embarrassment.

       These kids are already stressed beyond belief nowadays with the oppressive curriculum and homework imposed on them. I say let them be kids and have fun once in a while in school and stop changing our traditional American holidays under the false mantra of multiculturalism and inclusion. If anything, these policies are doing the complete opposite by teaching intolerance and exclusion. It’s bittersweet to see family members from Portland having school-sponsored pumpkin carving contests and Halloween parades in school where the kids get to dress up in costumes while marching around the school building. The kids are so excited and they will remember these childhood events when they are older as fond wholesome memories. But not in Cromwell, Newington or a growing number of towns, as Halloween is officially cancelled in school! The time has come for the parents to fight back for our kids and provide them the same American traditions we always enjoyed.
MORE MIDDLETOWN NEWS  |  STORY BY CHRIS ROVETTI  |  Nov 04 2014  |  COMMENTS?