Halloween fell on a Friday at JCHS, and you would assume the students of JCHS would dress up—however, the halls remained dry of Halloween spirit. Upon witnessing this,I only had one question: Why? There are many things that could point to why JCHS students refuse to show up to school in their costumes; the main reason most likely being that students are ashamed.
High school student Casey Hippel at LFHS (Lake Forest High School) states in an article in the school news that, “…I don’t want to stick out too much, because it [dressing up] doesn’t seem to be adopted by the majority of the school” (theforestscout.com). This statement couldn’t be more true for the state that JCHS is currently in. We as students have lost our Halloween spirit to what?—Shame!
It’s a known fact by parents and unspoken fact by teenagers that everyone dresses simply to conform. If everyone is wearing a specific style or article of clothing, other students follow and do the same thing. As if everyone intuitively knew “no one” would be dressing up for Halloween at school, the majority of JCHS students wore regular outfits as if it was a completely normal day…which it was not!
According to “The Bite” Student Newspaper, “Quite a few [students] wrote that costumes were ‘too childish’ for them, while others said ‘if more people would dress up then I probably would too.’ Many responses related to not wanting to ‘stand out’” (thebite.aisb.ro). The stigma around not wanting to dress up for Halloween ultimately circles back to one reason: ‘standing out’. As teenagers, it’s not surprising that peer pressure dictates what we wear and how we present ourselves, but Halloween is the one excuse to express yourself and have fun– regardless of what others are doing.
It’s time that we start appreciating our youth and appreciating the joys of dressing up for Halloween, especially Seniors. It’s too bad we won’t get this chance with our grade again! It’s about time that students abandon their need to fit in with the students in school that don’t want to dress up (come on, people!) and start being unapologetically themselves through the expression of Halloween costumes. Let’s make a change for future students, JCHS!