Should Halloween costumes be allowed at school?

It is a great debate: should students be allowed to wear Halloween costumes to school? After all, they are allowed to dress up for Spirit Week, so why not Halloween?

Thirty-two students were asked whether or not Halloween costumes should be worn at Charter Oak High School. Of those 32 students, 27 agreed that it was a good idea to wear costumes. The main reason given was that it gave everyone an opportunity to have fun, despite having to go to school on Halloween.

Students are always stressed with tests and homework. Halloween is the one day of the year (besides Spirit Week) when they should be allowed to have fun, enjoy themselves, and get creative.

Olivia Oracion, sophomore, said, “Costumes on Halloween would be a great idea because it would make the day more enjoyable even though we have to go to school.”

Although the majority of the people surveyed agreed that Halloween costumes should be allowed at school, there are some disadvantages. The big issue for most people is that students will take this as a chance to wear whatever they want, throwing the dress code out the window. Girls may also be upset because their outfit choices may be limited in contrast to the boys. Even though many people may decide to dress in something that is not appropriate for school, it is not fair to punish everyone else by not allowing costumes.

Some of the teachers surveyed did not want costumes to be allowed because it would be a distraction to the learning environment. This could cause a problem in many classes if some students wore costumes not fit for a school environment. However, if this happens, the student should be dress coded and asked to change out of their costume.

Wearing costumes is also a fun way to get teachers involved in a school activity with their students. Some of the surveyed people thought it would be a good idea to have a costume contest during lunch. The winner of the contest could even win a gift card to a place of their choice. This would make more people excited to participate and enjoy their school day.

Spirit Week is fun. Charter Oak does it every year, but it is only for one, maybe two, weeks out of the entire school year. It would be interesting to see a change of pace allowing Halloween costumes to be worn at school.

Other high schools in the area allow costumes to be worn during Halloween, such as Glendora High School and San Dimas High School. If they are allowed to wear costumes, why aren’t we?

As high school students, many of us have lost the fun things that we did in elementary school such as Read Across America Day and pajama day. For one day of the year, students should be allowed to let their inner child out and enjoy Halloween.

Francesca Perez, sophomore said that “Costumes would be a great way for students to express themselves and enjoy Halloween. If people decide to dress provocatively, they should be dress coded.”

Maybe next year the school could do a trial run on Halloween to see how everything goes, and if it goes well, costumes could be allowed in the future at Charter Oak.

Students should be allowed to express themselves with something other than their clothes or the days of Spirit Week. Spirit Week can also limit students options in what to wear because students have to dress accordingly to whatever the theme is for that day. With Halloween, students options are limitless, as long as it is according to dress code.

Allow students to bring back the fun they had in elementary school, even if it is only to dress up for one day out of the school year.