Children fear monsters under their beds and adults fear getting older. But schools?

Schools fear angry parents.

Thanks to a cultural attitude shift in recent years, people have become more inclined to avoid offending others, spreading awareness about exclusivity and prejudice in day-to-day life. In most cases, this has generally helped our nation, which is a compound of people from every corner of the world. This means that in today’s classrooms, kids celebrate their own cultures and religions, which puts pressure on schools to rethink their traditional celebrations.

This problem compounds in December, which is the month of Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Hanukkah. In elementary, middle, and high schools across the country, teachers and educators struggle with approaching the holiday season, which has traditionally catered more towards Christian holidays. With people calling it out, there is more pressure on schools to figure out the best recipe to handle these holidays fairly. 

Many schools are trying different approaches to this issue. For years, students at Oneonta Elementary School in Imperial Beach, California, had a December assembly with Christmas songs, decor, and a visit from Santa. In 2018, they abruptly switched the tradition to feature less about Christmas, cutting the traditional celebrations. While this seems like it would answer the public demand to fix the problem, it only resulted in many frustrated parents and disappointed kids. A similar instance happened at Pat Hardy Elementary School in Whitecourt. In November, the school announced it would be canceling its Christmas concert in place of a spring concert over inclusivity concerns. This did not sit well with the public, who responded to the announcement with anger, with a post on X by Rachel Parker headlined ‘SCROOGE ALERT’. 

This approach needs to be rethought. While it might seem like an easy solution to avoid these holidays, this angers families and comes off as very lazy on the schools’ part. 

Let’s take a second to think about the responsibility a school has: schools are a place where children go to learn. The simple job of educators is to prepare their students for real life. And just as math and reading are essential skills, cultural awareness is just as important in a growingly diverse nation and world. That being said, it is not a school’s job to celebrate. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas are all times for families to come together to light the kinara, menorah, or a star atop a tree. Unless a school operates under a religion, such as Catholic or Jewish schools, it is not their responsibility to celebrate in the way a family would.   

Knowing this, the best way for schools to handle these holidays is to create a learning opportunity. Teach about the holidays, their backgrounds, and customs in a way that students can engage in. Maybe this comes in the form of a concert or assembly; maybe this is just a special lesson in class. Either way, making the focus less on performance and more on educating the students will create more culturally aware and informed students, which will translate well into adulthood. That being said, if there is a performance involved, do not enforce participation. For many families, religion is a very important part of life. So if a child or staff member is pardoned from participation, help other children understand why in a respectful manner. 

This approach would educate future generations about different holidays and reduce the stigma around religion and cultural differences. It starts in schools.