Australian’s are expected to spend $490 million on decorations, costumes and candy this spooky season, but you won’t catch chills at one Melbourne school.
St Michaels Grammar School in Melbourne’s east has banned anything halloween, saying ghosts and ghouls will not be welcome on its St Kilda campus.
Senior chaplain Father Kenyon McKie informed parents of the rules in a lengthy message sent through the school’s app, which included a 600-word summary on the history and traditions of the holiday.
“Many Christians would feel that recognising Halloween gives the false impression that what is actually potentially spiritually dangerous is innocuous,” he said.
“Some children develop a fascination with the supernatural that may lead them into more sinister occult practices later in life.”
McKie gave another reason for the ban as well, one that came down mostly to disruption.
“As a Child Safe School, we do not want to promote a practice that, in some cases, causes annoyance, destruction of property and havoc for our neighbourhoods,” he said.
He added that families were “welcome to observe celebrations and festivals of their choosing outside school”.
School bans won’t stop most Australians celebrating however, with the Australian Retailers Association predicting spending could hit almost half-a-billion-dollars, up about 14 per cent on last year.
A spokesperson for Kmart and Target told The Sydney Morning Herald that young families were the biggest spenders.
“Halloween is one of our fastest growing events of the year and across Kmart and Target we have continued to expand our ranges across multiple categories including decorator, clothing, sleepwear, confectionary, craft and toys as a result,” they said.
The biggest spenders those aged 35 to 49, followed by 18 to 34 year olds.
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