Leon M. Goldstein High School in Brooklyn, NY, has banned costumes at its school this year after a student decided to wear a Hitler costume to the school last year.
Last year, Walter Petryk, 17 (shown here)
wore this fuehrer-style mustache and Nazi Uniform and caused an outrage among school staff and students.
Leon M. Goldstein High School in Brooklyn doesn't want the same controversy this year, so school principal, Joseph Zaza, sent a letter to every student banning Halloween costumes this year.
Petryk is angry about the ban and calls it ridiculous. He also says the school doesn't have the right to ban Halloween costumes and is enlisting classmates to protest by wearing costumes to the school anyway. Petryk says he is planning to wear either a Jesus or a Hasidic Jew costume this year.
The Department of Education (DOE) says the school is totally within its rights to ban costumes on the premises. The school says the costumes are "disruptive to the educational process." However, DOE doesn’t have a stated policy available about Halloween costumes.
As the NY Post reports:
Schools...can require students to remove clothing that "interferes with the learning process," and if students refuse, they can be suspended for up to 10 days.
Petryk is not worried about the consequences and like last year, he is ready to create more controversy.
The other students told
The NY Post that they are split in their opinions about Petryk’s behavior last year, but they say they totally agree that banning Halloween costumes is not right.
Karina Litvinova, 15, a sophomore is upset about this ban and said Petryk ruined Halloween for everyone at school.
In my opinion, Halloween is a fun time for students and you can't punish everyone just because of one guy. Petryk may think a Hitler costume is funny, but soon he will realize it was wrong. In fact, maybe somebody should take him to Auschwitz for an educational tour.
What do you think: Should the school ban Halloween costumes, or are they making too big a deal?
