Santa Claus Banned From Schools

The holiday season has finally come; a time for presents, lights, stockings, and Christmas trees. However, Christmas is not the only holiday that comes around during the month of December, though it is portrayed as the primary holiday by the historically dominant culture. It is around this time of year many schools decorate classroom doors to embrace the Christmas tradition. A memo was sent to the Principles of Hillsboro School District asking schools to keep in mind that not all members of the District’s community celebrates Christmas.

Similar controversies occurred in other parts of the world such as Sweden and England. In West Yorkshire (England), bosses demanded that Christmas decorations were to be outlawed. These issues happened before Oregon School Districts were reminded about the use of Santa Claus and other Christmas related decorations.

When the news of the controversy was released, media put a twist on the story, informing the public that Santa Claus was banned from schools. The memo actually stated nothing regarding Santa Claus being banned from schools; it only stated that schools should be sensitive to the fact that not everybody celebrates Christmas. There are other ways to spend the holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day and many more.

Many people responded to this minor issue online. One individual, Kurt Steiner had this to say about the issue: “It’s funny how much energy is put into solving problems that don’t really exist.” While it is important that students feel comfortable expressing their cultural and religious beliefs in an academic setting, the controversy surrounding holiday decorations seems redundant, compared to issues such as racism, global warming, and unemployment.