SCHOOL DROPS SOME CHRISTMAS SONGS FROM CONCERT
Parents say change ignores tradition
A student complains that the program is too Christian, but move prompts more concern.
By Pamela Perez
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 16, 2004
palmbeachpost.com
Chris and Judy Franklin will be disappointed tonight when the holiday choral performance at their daughter's school ends a few minutes before schedule.
Their 12-year-old daughter Erica won't be performing The Little Drummer Boy, after it was cut from her Jupiter school's concert program because of its religious nature, according to her parents.
"What are we coming too?" said Judy Franklin. "Where do we draw the line when we're trying to be so politically correct? I think we're losing our freedom of speech."
School officials at Independence Middle School have omitted some traditional Christmas songs from the program days before the concert after concerns they didn't comply with the annual holiday guidelines.
"We didn't just pull one, we pulled three or four (songs)," said Gwendolyn Johnson, school principal. "I think there's a good cross-section. As long as you have a variety of groups, your music should reflect that."
The other songs cut from the program were Shepherd's Spiritual, On a Cold Christmas Day and a medley of three songs: Angels We Have Heard on High, How Great Our Joy and Ding Dong Merrily on High, according to school officials.
Johnson acknowledged that the songs were cut for religious reasons. The change happened when interim chorus director Lisa Pontbriand asked Johnson to double check the program after a female Jewish student complained all the songs were "Christian." The principal had the program reviewed by the district's secondary education fine arts specialists, according to district spokeswoman Vickie Middlebrooks.
School officials decided to pull the four Christian-themed songs and replace them with three traditional Hanukkah songs: One Special Night, Bashana Haba'ah and S' vivon, the latter two performed in Hebrew. Some Christian-based songs stayed on the program, including Born Born in Bethlehem. Other songs on tonight's program include God Bless Us All, Deck the Halls, Singing at Santa's Place and Feliz Navidad.
"Now there is a greater showing of different faiths," Pontbriand said.
The Franklins, who are not Christian or religious, say the change worries them because of how stealthily it came about.
"Now the minority has a voice and the minority is getting their way," Judy Franklin said. "We don't say anything because we want to be politically correct, but they're hurting our feelings. They don't care about our feelings. It wouldn't offend me if they sing the dreidel song. It wouldn't offend me if they're singing the Kwanzaa song because it's part of a tradition. The Little Drummer Boy is tradition. It's something that has been a part of our country."
The Little Drummer Boy was just part of the ripple effect, Pontbriand said.
Last month, the student chorus held a concert in honor of Veteran's Day. The concert had no last-minute changes, according to school officials.
The Anti-Defamation League has worked closely with the Palm Beach County Schools District to develop guidelines during the holiday season, according to Mark Medin, Florida regional director for the Anti-Defamation League.
"The December holidays should not be about religious division and exclusion, but rather a time to bring communal good will, respect and mutual understanding among the various religious and ethnic groups in our society," Medin said.
The league believes public schools have a duty to censor themselves to teach students about respect.
"We think it's very important for the school district to have guidelines," Medin said. "When it comes to government institutions, such as public schools, there needs to be a higher level of sensitivity."
In New Jersey, a school district slashed the traditional Christmas song Silent Night from E.H. Slaybaugh Elementary School's holiday concert program after a parent, who is an attorney, objected to the song because of its religious nature, according to news reports. On Monday, the unidentified parent withdrew the complaint, but it is still under review by the board of education.
"One day we'll wake up and there won't be any Christmas," Chris Franklin said. "They're taking it way from us — one song at a time." |
