Sad Halloween

Yesterday was Halloween, and I was really excited about it. I purchased enough candy to give a piece to each of the students and staff at school. I arrived at school early and gave special Halloween Kit-Kats to each teacher and staff member, adding a gleeful, "Happy Halloween!"

We decorated the English lounge, and told all of our students about trick-or-treating in class. We told them if they came to the English lounge during lunch on Halloween, knocked on the door, and said "trick-or-treat," we would give them one piece of candy.

We did this last year, so I didn't think it would be a problem. We gave out perhaps a dozen pieces of candy, when the head of the English department came to our door.

"I hope this does not ruin the mood," she said, "but you cannot give out any more candy."

Apparently, giving each student one piece of candy a year is setting an unhealthy example for them. It was okay for the teachers to have candy, and it might have been okay to give a piece to students in class, but sharing this part of our culture with everyone at school was somehow not okay. This decision came from the top, and several of the other English teachers told me later that they felt bad about what had happened. I guess they didn't really see what the big deal was either. A couple of them secretly gave candy to their students.

So we were left with hundreds of pieces of candy, and the embarrassment of looking like liars to all of the students. We locked the English lounge, and tried to explain to the students that, in fact, we could not give them one piece of candy. I was really bummed about it.