I imagine those Maplewood officials had nothing but the highest motives for canceling that Halloween celebration at a local school, but parents are better off not butting into kids' business
Early in life, I came to the belief that adults should not be messing around with kids' holidays.
That occurred when I was 10 years old and I encountered my first Halloween in Toms River.
We had just moved down from Elizabeth, where the holiday was handled in the traditional fashion. Trick-or-treat was on Oct. 31. The night before was Mischief Night.
That seemed fine to me. But the people who ran Toms River had what they thought was a better idea. They scheduled their big Halloween Parade for Halloween night. They moved trick-or-treat back to Oct. 30. (For more on that, read here.)
The idea was to eliminate Mischief Night. That didn't work, of course. We kids just moved the mischief back a night.
The trick-or-treating took a real hit, however. Half the time we'd show up on the doorsteps and the homeowners would ask us just what the heck we were doing begging for candy on Mischief Night.
That gave me an early appreciation for the simple art of leaving well enough alone.
That art seems to be lost on the p.c. police of Maplewood. The administration of the Seth Boyden School created a statewide uproar with their decision to cancel a Halloween celebration at the school.
As is usually the case with such moves, they couched their decision in words that dripped concern for all. Here's an excerpt from the Oct. 12 letter that was sent to parents under the signature of the principal and the two co-presidents of the PTA:
"Through each event and daily or special activities, the values of Seth Boyden shine through -- inclusion, respect and value for all."
Inclusion is a wonderful thing. Perhaps the teachers could have the kiddies try their hand at the Latino version of Halloween, "El Dia de Los Muertos." (See note below.)
That would be nice. Other cultures have similar rituals for dealing with the prospect of the dread fate that awaits us all. Exposing the kiddies to that sort of thing would be quite a useful exercise in inclusion.
But I suspect the goal here is not inclusion so much as exclusion. I gained that insight from a conversation I had with Tom Clough, a Maplewood resident with whom I've discussed the topic of political correctness quite a bit over the years.
I first met Clough when he called me to protest what he said was the racial divisiveness in the curriculum while his son was in middle school. Courses intended to bring the kids together were instead pitting them against each other, he said.
Later Maplewood was in the news when all songs with any religious references were banned from the holiday concert.
This led a citizens' group to hold an impromptu concert during which they sang songs ranging from "Silent Night" to "I Have a Little Dreidel" to protest the ban, again getting some perhaps unwanted media coverage for the town. (Here's what Clough wrote about the controversy at the time; well worth reading.)
This episode follows in that vein, Clough said. The town has its good points and it's not so-good points, he said.
"It's got a reputation for being diverse and having decent schools, being a mini-United Nations," he said. "They work very hard to maintain that."
At the same time, he said, some people get a bit carried away with it.
"At the other end are the people who use their nominal religious beliefs as a cover for not wanting to hear about anyone else's religion," he said. "They're secular humanists and at heart they think religion is kind of silly and don't want kids exposed to it."
From reading the back-and-forth on the various comments boards, I'd say Clough offers an excellent analysis of his home town. Some of the administration's reasons for canceling the kiddies' party seem strained at best.
One was that some kids' parents couldn't attend. Huh? When I was a kid the last thing we wanted was our parents pestering us. Just hand over the candy.
Another was that some kids can't afford costumes. That's a sad situation. But the remedy is for the PTA to get the parents to spring for a few masks and outfits for those poor kids. I suspect they'd enjoy that a lot more than missing a good party.
Alas, some adults always have to play the spoilsport. They pretend to the best of motives. But at heart what we're seeing here is a holier-than-thou attitude from people who don't think anything is holy.
All I can say is, I hope they can't find a way to cancel Mischief Night in Maplewood.
When the kids don't get their treats, they're entitled to a few tricks.
MORE ON EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: In 1991, I had the great privilege to observe this ritual up close. I was on an assignment for Surfing Magazine in El Salvador and thus was in the port town of La Libertad, home of the best wave on the West Coast, for Halloween.
I was amazed at what went on. The fireworks that were set off seemed even more deadly than the mortar shells that the guerrillas has launched at the town a few months before. It was quite an impressive evening.
On the other hand, it couldn't hold a candle to the Guatemalan tradition of Maximon. Now that was really something.