Toronto schools: Halloween insensitive to witches

From the National Post (Nicholas Kohler, “School board cautions against offending Wiccans”, Oct. 27)(via Stuttaford): Teachers should forego traditional classroom Halloween celebrations because they are disrespectful of Wiccans and may cause some children to feel excluded, says a Toronto District School Board memo sent to principals and teachers this week. “Many recently arrived students in […]

From the National Post (Nicholas Kohler, “School board cautions against offending Wiccans”, Oct. 27)(via Stuttaford):

Teachers should forego traditional classroom Halloween celebrations because they are disrespectful of Wiccans and may cause some children to feel excluded, says a Toronto District School Board memo sent to principals and teachers this week.

“Many recently arrived students in our schools share absolutely none of the background cultural knowledge that is necessary to view ‘trick or treating,’ the commercialization of death, the Christian sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs, as ‘fun,’ ” says the memo.

Showing more common sense than the school board, an actual Wiccan priestess interviewed by the newspaper, Nicole Cooper, said she didn’t feel threatened by costumes or trick-or-treating: “If I had children I wouldn’t deprive them of that — it’s a really fun thing to do. It’s engaging in the spirit of the season; it’s exciting for kids,” she said.

4 Comments

  • Halloween is a Christian Holiday

    I find it hilarious that some radical Christians, in the U.S. and throughout the world, are growing increasingly

  • let the kids enjoy Halloween

    Our

  • O Canadá no seu Melhor

    O Canadá é um país que nem dá luta, de tão politicamente-correcto que é. Em Toronto, o Halloween foi considerado insensível por poder ofender a comunidade Wicca….

  • Where is the Rosa Parks of Witches?

    National Post
    A Toronto District School Board memo sent to principals and teachers this week say that teachers should forgo traditional classroom Halloween celebrations because they are disrespectful of Wiccans and may cause some children to feel e…