Why I cancelled school Holiday parties…and why I think other schools should too

Just call me the Grinch who stole Halloween. I didn’t really, but judging by the reaction I had from some parents and families the first year I cancelled holiday parties, you would have thought I was. Yes, yes, I know…school parties are fun….the kids look forward to them….it is just one (5 days) day…I have heard all these reasons and more about why school parties were necessary. My favorite was the parent who was upset because I was taking away her opportunity to volunteer…How about popcorn Wednesday? Reading log Thursday? Daily reading buddy….or any of the millions of little tasks teachers need help with…I digress.

Holidays in my school have become really low key; teachers appreciate it, and parents have learned to be ok with it…or at least not as vocal about not being ok with it? But here is the thing, whether you agree or disagree with the celebration of holidays in schools, there are some valid reasons why I discontinued the hooplah.

1. Hallowthankmas. If I could cleverly figure out a way to include valentines and Easter into this I would. The greeting card companies, candy manufacturers, and decoration manufacturers have a field day sucking the money from our bank accounts in the name of holidays. This is American Consumerism at its worst….and I say that as a person who gets totally suckered every year. Here is what this boils down to in the school setting. Kids attend 25 trunk or treats in the weeks leading up to the actual day of trick or treat. They have a party at church, with family and friends, their teams/dance classes/scouting troops….and so yes, parents are definitely getting their money’s worth out of the $50 costume they bought. The same goes at almost every major holiday. And then we add another party.
2. School curriculum and pacing guides are designed around a 180 day school calendar. The pacing of the calendars is targeted to average students who are on track with their learning. So, when you have students in need of intervention, they actually add extra lessons…(More learning time) to make sure these students have the opportunity to get caught up. But….here is what is not factored in: 10 emergency drills a year that disrupt an hour or more of learning, early release days for teacher professional development, records days etc, illnesses or issues requiring a substitute teacher, district and state mandated assessments (each classroom k-2 loses nine days a year to testing, 3-5 lose 11). All of these things can potentially take time away from instruction. when you add the fiasco of a party…even if the party is only the last hour of the day, you still have parents coming in through out the day to drop off goodies, you still have piles of goodies stacking up in classrooms, and you have a student preoccupation with the impending festivities. Even the most dynamic and engaging teacher is going to struggle with student focus the day of the party…times five parties a year.
3. Allergies and food sensitivities are on the rise, and unfortunately, the top allergens- peanuts and tree nuts, eggs, wheat and milk are all commonly found in many of the treat type items that are found at a school celebration. This means that the teacher has to be on their toes, because no matter how many notices you send to the families about allergens…somebody didn’t get the note. This also means that some kids have to miss out…in other words, be EXCLUDED from certain snacks. How is this fair? Three words: IT IS NOT. As an allergy sufferer, Hallowthankmas is the time of year where I am in need of my epinephrine the most. The only thing I hate more than injecting myself, is injecting a kid.
4. While I am on the topic of exclusions, I am also going to talk about equity. There are so many reasons why holiday celebrations in schools are not equitable. The first issue I bring up has to do with the increasingly diverse world we live in, this big multicultural, multi ethnic, and multi faith based community should be all inclusive. Yet, we celebrate holidays that are based on primarily Christian traditions. There is not a teacher around who has not had student whose family has ‘opted out’ of holiday celebrations in the school setting because they do not align with the family’s faith or beliefs. These children stay home from school for the day!!! How is this even OK? These kids are self excluding! The second issue I have with equity again goes back to diversity, but this time socio-economic diversity. When the teacher sends out the sign up sheet for who is volunteering and who is bringing treats, some families are unintentionally excluded: their family may not have the resources to contribute a treat to the class. Their adult family members may be unable to take time off from their jobs to come volunteer at the class celebration. I once had a conversation with a mom who was upset because there was not party. She insisted she didn’t mind that some kids don’t contribute. She was stopped in her tracks when I asked her how she thought the kids who can’t contribute feel when they see everyone else stacking their treats in the back of the room and they enter empty handed.
5. Childhood obesity is on the rise. There are many factors that contribute to this, including a more sedentary lifestyle as students prefer video games to outdoor play. The elimination of daily physical education in the school setting doesn’t help either, but in my humble opinion, the biggest factor in childhood obesity is the garbage kids eat…regularly. When I was a kid I could count the number of times I ate fast food on one hand. In case you are wondering, I am not ancient. My family cooked at home.When we ate at restaurants, we ate actual food- not processed, preserved, cheaply made garbage disguised as food. Fast food is a dietary staple for many kids. These high calorie, high sodium, high fat meals have very little nutritional value. When you combine with with the chips, cookies, and goodies that kids eat they are probably consuming enough calories for a linebacker. Then we want to add piles of chips, cupcakes, cookies, and candy from a school celebration? On a side note, schools have some snack and meal mandates handed down from the USDA regarding foods that can be served and consumed in schools….and school party fare is not on the list. Because there is no ‘food police’, it is up to school leadership to abide by this law. I do. Oh…and on another note, exclusion… my diabetic students, especially the insulin dependent ones have to miss out.
6. The mess. Parties are messy, and all those leftovers? Somebody has to take them to the teachers lounge. The bigger impact though is the extra time my custodian has to take in each room cleaning spills, taking out overflowing trash she cans, and sanitizing the room. Classrooms really are not ideal locations for food consumption. My custodians don’t get over time, and and extra five minutes in 12 classrooms is an hour. You can can bet they are spending more than five minutes a room on party clean up.
7. Finally, and this is a big one, my teachers are not event planners! They are highly trained professionals with specialized skillsets. They are the architects of tomorrow’s workforce, they are the builders of strong futures. They work hard everyday, putting in time above and beyond their contract day, and even contract year. They have to fight for the same respect given freely to other professionals of comparable educational levels. The profession of education as a whole has to fight for credibility and we are referred to as ‘just teachers’. In many other countries and cultures, teachers are revered. Not here. We are not taken seriously because we only work 10 months out of the year. teachers are on the front line of all of societal problems…Drug epidemic, you can believe it impacts the classroom. Teenage pregnancy, yep, we are the feel the impact. Increased divorce rates…hello, welcome to public education because that impacts the classroom as well. Gangs, trauma, abuse, substance abuse, poverty, economic downturns, epidemics…we feel all these things in public schools, and are expected to be trauma informed, highly engaging, and highly effective. We don’t have time to plan a party too.

So….while I know families love to see their kids having fun, I hope those same families understand why I try to keep school more about education and less about holiday celebration.