The elementary school Halloween parade has been disarmed. At a New Jersey elementary school, nobody’s scary any more.
One young boy dressed as a cowboy was without a gun in his holster, and a pirate wearing an eye patch had no sword in his scabbard.
. . . The parade included a devil with no pitchfork, a Power Ranger without a laser blaster and a pint-size Batman who had been told to leave his utility belt at home.
Masks also are forbidden, but apparently the fairy princesses can keep their wands.
All Halloween costumes were banned by a Long Island high school after three girls came last year dressed as Captain Underpants. The tradition is disruptive, says Long Beach High School Principal Nicholas Restivo.
For the Captain Underpants costumes, the three girls donned beige leotards and nude stockings under white briefs and red capes to portray the superhero, who has battled such foes as talking toilets.
Students want to regain the right to wear non-sexy costumes on Halloween.
I went to a Halloween party on Sunday dressed as a witch; my husband was a vampire or possibly evil coachman. He loves his fangs. I may have to hide them. There were many kids, including a sword-carrying pirate, a rifle-carrying bandit and a utility-belt-wearing Batman. Most of the adults were dressed as Californians on a warm day, but I chatted with another witch, who turned out to be a fellow alum, albeit younger, of Highland Park High. In my era, high school students didn’t dress up for Halloween, nor did adults. Halloween was for little kids.
Halloween costumes are disruptive, but see-through blouses, midriff tops, and butt-crack jeans are OK? I call bullsh*t.
I actually reward my undergraduates for showing up to class in costume. Most of them are science geeks who are self-conscious about public speaking or doing anything to call attention to themselves. This helps them loosen up in an otherwise intimidating statistics course. (Of course, I lead by example; this year I’m a somewhat aged and overweight Batman.)
My favorite custom I have done was when we attended a “make your costume” party. My wife wore a rectangular red box we painted red and I carried a trowel with me. She was a brick and I was the brick layer.