This year, we are very lucky because it just so happens that Halloween falls on a Friday! Since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (second only to Christmas) I am very excited to be able to make the most of my night and not have to worry about going to school the next day. Being a senior, this is especially important to me because it will be the last time I get to celebrate this holiday with my high school classmates, and it is essential that I make enough memories this Halloween to take with me when I graduate and start a new chapter in my life. There is but one obstacle in the way of me achieving the perfect Halloween: not being allowed to wear a costume during the school day.

           Students can spend their night doing whatever they please, including but not limited to trick or treating with younger siblings, throwing costume parties, handing out candy, or even watching horror movies. As you can imagine, this makes it extremely difficult for us to see all of our friends in one evening. Wearing costumes to school would assure us that we would be able to see all of our friends (and their crazy attire) at some point during the day. It would also make the school day more fun! Even if everything continues as if it was a regular school day, wearing costumes would make getting through the day a bit more bearable for everyone. I’m sure there are even many teachers who would enjoy dressing up just as much as the students would.    

            The most common reason teachers and administrators do not want students wearing costumes on Halloween is because of their safety concerns. I’ll admit, thinking about walking into a school with more than 1000 students wearing all sorts of crazy costumes is kind of intimidating. In order to compensate for this, I am proposing three rules:

1.      Costumes cannot prevent administrators, teachers, and other staff members from identifying students. No face paint, masks, or any other type of facial covering is allowed.

2.      Costumes must adhere to the Stamford High Dress Code.

3.      No fake weapons, even if they are part of the costume, are allowed to be brought to school.

 With these rules in place, I see no reason why Halloween costumes should not be allowed in Stamford High on October 31. Students will be dressed appropriately, and their safety will remain intact. If both other high schools in the Stamford Public School district allow their kids to dress up, why can’t we?