Costume contest at Middle School - question

[snarlingcoyote]

Here the kids are only allowed to dress as a character out of a book on halloween. That's tough because now we have to get one costume for school, and a different costume for what DS really wants to be for halloween.

I've heard of the "book character" thing before, and I kind of like it. It forces the kids to think things through, allows the school to use the costume madness for learning, and the kids of parents who are against Halloween still generally get to participate. In some states, if the school didn't find some way to tie the costumes into some form of learning that was appropriate for all grade levels, the school wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the holiday (non-instructional time, don't'cha know).

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Overreaction. In that interpretation by saying that dressing up as a certain thing would possibly make a group uncomfortable you would have to ban almost every other costume that portrays a human character.You can't have people dressing as doctors & nurses (someone may have had a bad medical experience & they would have flashbacks), soldiers (ptsd-not acceptable for those against war), witches (offensive to wicans), priests (catholic molestation scandal), vampires (against those who like/don't like twilight), no disney princesses (they promote gender stereotypes), Gypsies, Rock Starts, .....the list goes on and on. Not everything is a political statement, sometimes it is just kids having fun without any hidden agenda or ulterior motives.

There's a big difference between all the instances you quoted and someone dressing up like a homeless person. I know you were being facetious, but being homeless, especially for a child, is a horrible, humiliating, traumatic experience.

Choosing to be a doctor or a lawyer or even an Indian chief (I guess you'd wear a suit with a bolo and talk about casinos! - and yes, that's from the chiefs I've met!) Dressing up as a tinker, tailor, solider, spy - those are all professions and things to aspire to.

 

[smidgy]

it's funny (not "ha ha " funny) how things have changed over the years.

I remember dressing up as a Hobo when I was a kid. I am 54 years old. Im a baby boomer. back then.. life was great! and it was an "arche-type" of bad times in the past.
and I remember dressing up as a "hobo" my mom used a piece of charcoal to "dirty up" my face.
you know what's even stranger? I remember once my parents dressing me up as a little black boy. can you imagine that now? to be honest with you, I didn't even remember that until JUST NOW!!!!! until I read this thread! holy cow! (is this an Oprah AAAH moment?)

maybe I should stop this post .. right now!!! (cause, really, Ijust NOW remembered that)...
this is embarrassing...
but we lived in a lily white, wonder bread neighborhood. but my parents NEVER swore.. and NEVER used the "N" word... it wasn't allowed. I have NO idea why that was thought to be a good halloween costume back in the very early 60s.
but now that I am writing this, I'm thinking back then that people didn't think there would ever BE "hobos" again.

I guess it was ok for people to wear"black face" in the theatre. ...sheesh, what were my parents thinking.?
see how these things that seemed ok to them was NOT ok? actaully, I remember other kids in my class dressing up as a japanese girl, or an indian.
which, actually, Disney sells indian constumes in frontier land.......
omg! I'm so confused! would it be ok to dress up as a senorita? I think, in the late 50s , early 60s, any different race was a "costume". so now, it could be Pochohantas, or jasmine.
I was going to say it would be disrespectful, n these times, to be a hobo. but, actually, dont' think any kid these days would even know what that was!
about 10 years ago, I went to a halloween party dressed as a bag lady.(I won 2nd prize!) I think now that might not be a good costume choice.?

well, glad I could clear THAT whole thing up... in my usual wishy washy fashion!!!!
anyting else I can do to help?

 

[Acklander]

I remember once my parents dressing me up as a little black boy. can you imagine that now? to be honest with you, I didn't even remember that until JUST NOW!!!!! until I read this thread! holy cow! (is this an Oprah AAAH moment?)

LOL - I'm 50 and once dressed up as Aunt Jemimah - I remember I loved the pancakes sooooo much and she was my hero for inventing such a great thing. I think I was in 2nd grade so would have been about 6 or 7. I remember when going out trick or treating when I'd go up to the door people would ask who I was dressed as, and I'd think haven't these poor people ever had pancakes before?

 

[penn19]

I've heard of the "book character" thing before, and I kind of like it. It forces the kids to think things through, allows the school to use the costume madness for learning, and the kids of parents who are against Halloween still generally get to participate. In some states, if the school didn't find some way to tie the costumes into some form of learning that was appropriate for all grade levels, the school wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the holiday (non-instructional time, don't'cha know).

They could dress up as Jurgis Rudkus from the book The Jungle. It's the name of a character from a book. Happens to be a hobo, but still a character from a book.

 

[MELSMICE]

What I don't understand is.......so what if they even did dress up as a homeless person. There are homeless people in the world. Kids dress up as overweight old woman with warts on their noses too - do they have to stop doing that also?

What about an old man? Will we be offending old men if they dress up as them? Do older kids have to stop dressing up as babies because they will offend someone?

It's Halloween. Political correctness is sometimes crazy!

 

[xCourxCorex]

There was a girl in my class years and years ago in elementary school who wore all mismatched clothes, a button-down shirt with the buttons matched up wrong, 2 different shoes, her hair a mess.. she was a girl that got dressed in the dark. It was pretty clever. Maybe the girls could do something similar... and not call it a hobo ?

 

[kinntj]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I sincerely didn't think a hobo was offensive, but I now understand that is not how all perceive the term.

karenos

You could always do hillbilly. My mom had my sister do that in high school. Even the old fashioned brown bottle in the back pocket.