Why changing the official date of Halloween is senseless and selfish

There is a petition at Change.org with 100,000 signatures to change the date of Halloween to the last Saturday of October instead of it's current traditional date. I've done some digging and looking and more looking and the more I do that, the more I come to this conclusion. It's senseless and caters to a minority of people who want the holiday to be convenient just for them. Now I have several reasons for my position on this and I am going point out not only why this should fail, but must.  First let's take a look at the arguments in favor.

"It will be safer": The petition claims that having the holiday only on Saturday will make the holiday safer but that's certainly not true nor supported by any form of statistics.  The very first claim on their list is that there are 3800 injuries related to Halloween each year. Well, since Halloween does land on a Saturday every seven years (yep, every seven years as it cycles through the weekdays) there is no evidence that the day of the week makes any difference in those injuries. But then there's THIS. That's right, a study that says Saturday is actually the second most dangerous day of the week overall. So good luck.  But it get's worse.

"People don't follow safety rules": The next four points they make on their list is about how people don't follow safety guidelines like carrying flashlights, having reflective material or being in a group or with parents. I don't know about you, but it seems to me there is no magic in any day of the week that will make people suddenly conform to safety guidelines they've been ignoring for years anyway. The day of the week has nothing to do with  this.

"It will make millenials happier": I'm sorry but what? Go look at the link highlighted above. It literally suggests that we should change the date to make one generation of people happy about it. But how many millenials were even asked? Were there any studies to this? 

Some comments suggest that people have to work so it's inconvenient to them and they prefer Saturday so they have a day off. Well that's pretty selfish. Currently 29% of Americans work the weekends. Just google it. That's nearly a third of the country and a helluva lot more than 100,000 people.  Now that's just one reason this needs to fail, it doesn't take that near third of the nation into consideration or give them any voice in the matter.

The number one reason this needs to fail is that it's a slap in the face to freedom of religion. See THIS. That's right, it's a religious holiday to well over another 100,000 people. Wicca for example is accepted as a religion in the United States and given rights in freedom of religion. Currently that accounts for 1.5 million people. So you want to spit in the face of 1.5 million people? Okay. Good luck with that.

And then what's next? What are we really changing? What holiday do we cater next? If 100,000 athiests sign a petition to eliminate Christmas, will that be okay? Or maybe we put it on only the last Saturday of each month to make corporations happier? I bet it would. What about the 4th of July? How about Thanksgiving? That's always on a Thursday. Doesn't that make it inconvenient for someone?

Now here's the counter suggestion. If you want something different in your community, talk to your community. Arrange your own safe Halloween event. Plenty of places already do their Halloween on a specific date without stomping on people's religion or traditional practices. Stop trying to shove what you want down everyone else's throats.

Things you should understand about the education system.

 Every state and more so every city has their own way of running education and handling IEPs. What you could do for your child in support and educational experience is literally a great spectrum of its own. It's important to know that, if you have a problem, you can't just bring federal law down on their heads. You have to go through proper channels and that means the State level. How that state handles or enforces federal law is entirely up to them and yes, that's mostly considered legal and accepted by the "higher authorities". So if you are in Florida and have an IEP complaint to make, you have to make it to the State of Florida Department of Education. You don't get to just jump to the White House. Some places may cave to the threat of a complaint, but that will be the exception rather than rule. Because of the process you will have to go through,, many of them will be pretty calm about the issue.

Florida is a state of nightmare tales of abuse against children in autism (or other disabilities) and you can find tons of news media all over the internet. States like, Wisconsin are generally more successful. If you want to have some fun take a trip to Greatschools.org and see how schools in your burg measure up to others around the country. Check anywhere you want. You'll be amazed. For even more comparison, compare that to the 2009 NAMI grading of the states. You can pretty much see how things will be for your child in school on the comparisons. But influences go deeper than that. What kind of things go into affecting how your state and city run their system?

Politics: Where do you think common core came from? Politicians. It's all done with Ordinances, Acts, and other nonsensical business you may not even get to vote on.

City Size: Are you in a major city or small town? Small and isolated towns can be the most differential in school from the rest of the state. Even that may be small differences, but I'm sure I have readers with stories.

Local Beliefs/Traditions: What are of the country are you in? Are you in the Bible belt? Maybe you live in Tornado alley or way up north? Beliefs and traditions of the place you live in will have a direct impact on education and how it's run. It's not supposed to, but it does. In Utah, the Mormon Religion is majority of the population. That means most of the teachers are Mormon too. Their distinct beliefs carry over into the class room. I know this because I lived in Utah for my 9th grade year after being in Nebraska. Totally different worlds.

What they personally think of YOU as a parent: I've had one school commend me, one judge me as a parent (and they all do but I mean harshly) and one label be as a difficult parent, all for doing the exact same thing. It's common knowledge that you can't get along with everyone. But we are supposed to be professional too, right? Well. Definitions vary. One thing that is for sure, if the teacher really doesn't like you, it will affect his or her point of view toward your child. The common thought on parents of  special needs students is that we are a colossal pain in the ass. That stigma (and not all teachers are like this) can make it hard to establish a good parent/teacher rapport.

And all of that is just in Elementary school.

The reason I post this is because, as I look over stories on the internet; I see people lending advice about federal IEP Law as if it's exactly the same in ever state, county, and city. Yes, I know it's written the same, but getting it enforced is a totally different universe. And situations vary so that the law may not be broken by some technicality. It's always best advice to consult a local attorney. Consultations are usually free.

If you are a parent of a special needs student with an IEP, you owe it to yourself to find out exactly what your state's procedures are in handling complaints and education in general. How do they enforce their policies? Too often we wind up surprised and that's never a good thing to be.  But what do you do if you are in a bad situation? In my next installment, I'll tell you.

Divided we fail

And right here on our own soil we are very divided. It doesn't matter what we are trying to achieve, it will be far harder if not impossible without standing together. We apparently haven't learned to set aside our differences, despite history beating us over the head with them.

Just look at all the ways we fight and tear ourselves apart.

Politics: Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, calling each other names and fighting over things that should be common sense. We vote for our politicians based on their label rather than what kind of person they really are if they really are qualified for the job. Don't even get me started on taxpayers shelling out millions of dollars (major overkill) to some politician running for President. You know what that amounts to? Paying a prospective employee to apply for a job. That's what they are doing! Applying for a job! There's a better way but that's for another post.

Religion: We are supposed to have freedom of religion and that's all fine and dandy. But it does very little for the fact that we still judge each other on beliefs. It doesn't stop at whether or not you believe in or worship God, but right down to how you do it. Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, Baptists, Mormons, Jews, 7th Day Adventists, and more. And don't tell me they love each other when they've been fighting throughout history. Why can't we learn from our mistakes? The Crusades, the Inquisition, and right down to Protestants and Catholics blowing each other up over in Ireland. Yeah that's another country, but still holds to prove my point. DIVIDED. It's not having all these different churches that's really the problem, it's the fact that we refuse to tolerate each other and get past differences.

And there is the bottom line. We have to stop depending on labels to tell us what a person is like. We have to get past our differences. There are great people in our American history with holidays named after them, and we still aren't listening to them. People like Martin Luther King Jr. His words apply to so much more than racial differences. They apply to all our differences.

Worrying about how someone believes what they believe or what they label might be is a waste. Set it aside, learn from the heart and mind rather than what is merely on the surface. Realize we are all human and in this mess together. From there, work to make our world a better place. And don't disregard these words because you think your neighbor won't do it. The true question is, will you do it in spite of all else? Can you?

The teachings of Christ; what have we learned?

I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ. I believe in all of his teachings as depicted in the bible. However, while I wish everyone a glorious Easter Sunday, I find myself wondering what we have learned.

Look at how we treat each other. Has it changed much since he died on the cross for us? Have we really taken in what it means to love our neighbor? I know we have neighbors who make it very difficult to tolerate them, never mind love them. How about 'respect', is that a better word? We still don't do it.

We sure preach it though. When ever it's convenient and we think it makes us 'right' we take our religious lessons and dish em right out. Sadly, that only makes us right for a fraction of time. It makes us right in a given circumstance, but not throughout our lives. We say it, but we don't live it.

Jesus said: If you have two coats, give one to someone who has none.
We say: Every man for himself. You're on your own!

Jesus was persecuted, tortured and nailed to a cross.
We still commit discrimination against any who are different from us or we just don't agree with (soldiers, disbabled, colored, religious belief, etc etc etc.) and deny them place in our societies (whether by large or small portion).

And don't say you donated to Goodwill and that absolves you. It doesn't. Shoving off your old stuff you don't need (even though it's a worthy organization) is not the same as what Jesus was talking about. But yes, charity is nice. We still only do it when it's convenient.

There are those of us who do the best we can to live up to these teachings and actually go to church for that specifically. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the moral majority whether they go to church or not.

So, as you go to church this Easter Sunday, I am asking that you ask yourself: What more could I do? Am I living up to what I preach myself? Just ask yourself. And have a blessed holiday.