Please Explain

The ‘No-Party’ Policy

To the Editor:

How many of us have taken part in some sort of holiday party or celebration this season? Was it a corporate function? Was it a family party? Was it at church or at temple? Maybe it was in your neighborhood, or with friends you see once a year. Maybe you were invited to an annual holiday party for the first time as was my family. We made many new friends. We sang, we laughed, and we shared a community spirit. That celebration, and many like it take the edge off the sharp reality of our daily lives. For a nation that is at war, and is constantly on heightened terror alert status, celebrations like that party become great relief. What do they represent? To me and my family they represent fellowship, friendship, renewal, love, peace, even a sense of relaxation come to mind.

These holiday celebrations that we have all attended at one time or another are made up of people with different backgrounds, cultures, religious denominations, and financial means. In a sense, a fine example of what this great country represents. We can revel in each other’s differences, promote understanding, explore new cultures, and be able to open our eyes to the vast world around us right here in our small community.

Why then, are we denying our children the same enjoyment at school? Are our children not subjected to stress as we are? Is it not in the curriculum that children should learn fellowship, empathy, and tolerance? Will this not ultimately make them wiser as adults?

The White House has a holiday party. Fortune 500 companies down to family-owned businesses have holiday parties. Our own town government has one. The Head O’ Meadow School has a mandate of no holiday celebrations of any kind. I understand that the principals and teachers must make the curriculum a priority. I also understand that there never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish this. My daughter, who attends Head O’ Meadow, wants to know if we cannot celebrate the holidays, does that mean we cannot give our teachers and fellow classmates presents? What do I tell her? No, child, your school doesn’t promote the spirit of giving of oneself, and the wonderful feelings of good will that it inspires? I can’t tell her that. Perhaps the Board of Education will explain it to her.

David Kellogg

130 Boggs Hill Road, Newtown                              December 15, 2004