Chapter 1. Controversial Issues

1.2: Should parents decide what Halloween costumes children wear?

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Controversial Issues
1.2: Should parents decide what Halloween costumes children wear?

In 2010, a mom and her son received national media attention when the 5-year-old boy decided he wanted to be Daphne from Scooby-Doo for Halloween, and then she blogged about his (and her) experiences. From her blog (below), you can see how the day went:

And then the big day arrives. We get dressed up. We drop Squirt at his preschool and head over to his [Boo’s]. Boo doesn’t want to get out of the car. He’s afraid of what people will say and do to him. I convince him to go inside. He halts at the door. He’s visibly nervous. I chalk it up to him being a bit of a worrier in general. Seriously, WHO WOULD MAKE FUN OF A CHILD IN A COSTUME ON HALLOWEEN? So he walks in. And there were several friends of mine that knew what he was wearing that smiled and waved and gave him high-fives. We walk down the hall to where his classroom is.

And that’s where things went wrong. Two mothers went wide-eyed and made faces as if they smelled decomp. And I realize that my son is seeing the same thing I am. So I say, “Doesn’t he look great?” And Mom A says in disgust, “Did he ask to be that?!” I say that he sure did as Halloween is the time of year that you can be whatever it is that you want to be. They continue with their nosy, probing questions as to how that was an option and didn’t I try to talk him out of it. Mom B mostly just stood there in shock and dismay.

And then Mom C approaches. She had been in the main room, saw us walk in, and followed us down the hall to let me know her thoughts. And they were that I should never have “allowed” this and thank God it wasn’t next year when he was in Kindergarten since I would have had to put my foot down and “forbidden” it. To which I calmly replied that I would do no such thing and couldn’t imagine what she was talking about. She continued on and on about how mean children could be and how he would be ridiculed. My response to that: The only people that seem to have a problem with it is [sic] their mothers.

Reproduced with permission of Sarah Manley.
From http://nerdyapple.com/my-son-is-gay/.

Question 1

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Question 2

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Question 3

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