Halloween: a fun little holiday at the end of October, in which goblins, ghosts, and witches appear in front yards, pranks are played, copious amounts of candy are consumed, and everyone runs around wearing costumes. Unless, of course, you are in the upper school.

For the second year in a row, upper school students have been told that while they are allowed to dress down in blue jeans and Halloween colors this October 31, they may not wear costumes because dressing up would shift focus away from the younger grades.

Dressing up on Halloween does not shift the focus from the lower and middle school; it adds to the Halloween excitement. Instead of walking down a sidewalk filled with tall kids in uniform, the lower school students would see people dressed up in costumes just as cool as theirs. After all, half the fun of dressing up is seeing how everyone else is dressed.

If appropriateness is an issue, the school can do the same thing it does every dress down day – ban certain articles of clothing (or in this case, types of costumes) that they feel would reflect poorly on the student body and remind everyone to “keep it neat, clean, and covered.”

If the concern is public image, why would students dressing up on Halloween reflect poorly on the school? If anything, it demonstrates that while Columbus Academy is a challenging school with a serious focus on academic performance, its students still know how to have fun.

In terms of financial differences, the consensus among the student body seems to be that it isn’t about how much you spend on your costume; it’s about how creative you are with it.

Wearing costumes also allows people to express themselves and their creativity. Traditionalists might dress up as witches, cats, vampires, and ghosts, and there are often many people who dress up as something in pop culture. Harry Potter fans might find a robe and wand, Doctor Who fans might find themselves a Tardis and a bow tie, or fans of Disney might let it go and dress up as Queen Elsa herself. The possibilities are endless, and make for endless conversation.

Most importantly, who decided that dressing up in costumes is only for people under the age of 14? What about being in high school makes us too mature for costumes? The key word in young adults is young, and as such we should certainly be allowed to indulge our inner child.

Written by Sarah Fornshell’15