To the editor:

I am amazed and quite annoyed at the actions and reasoning of the Hillcrest School principal who nixed Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties for her grade-schoolers. I can’t think her suggestion that this was appropriate for a school with a large international population was sensible. Surely, if American children are to be enriched by exposure to diverse cultures, the reverse should be true also; let the international children experience well-loved American customers, too. How could they be harmed by a costume parade?

If a few families object to any holiday parties, let those children stay home for the afternoon of the party day or, better yet, have free reading time in the school library? This was done at Centennial in the 1970s when my son was in school there, showing sensitivity to a minority population without depriving the majority of a normal traditional American pleasure and custom.

If a few children from families of such extreme religious views see Halloween as evil and demonic, let those kids stay home that day, but they may as well get used to being in a very narrow minority group outside the mainstream eventually.

Bravo to Sarah Hill-Nelson for standing up to such silliness and helping Hillcrest students enjoy an innocent traditional pleasure. (A cautionary note in light of today’s mainstream extreme tastes in amusement: Maybe a list of guidelines could be sent home with children about costume options. Not exactly censorship, but no ax murderers, etc.?)