AIBU to think WTF were the parents thinking?

[JakeyRolling]

DS (7) had his school Halloween disco last night.

Amongst the usual questionable costumes (Squid Games guards, tiny cheerleaders outfits Etc… The kind I wouldn’t do and I can’t understand why a parent would but not inherently problematic) there was one kid in a Santa outfit with a scary pointy “blood” splattered mask and a stabbing knife. (The mask is similar to the pic)
Quite apart from the fact the school has a “no masks” policy, this was for the P1-3 age group so the oldest kid was no more than 9 and therefore many kids are still believers.

DS is autistic and was a bit upset by it and we had to explain several times it was a costume.

AIBU in being pissed at the parents?

School should not have to provide a list of inappropriate characters - parents should crack on parenting appropriately.

“No mask” policy for Halloween?!!!

At least it wasn't Jimmy Savile. Last year we had a child dressed as Dennis Nilsen

It's great that so many girls and young women are able to embrace athleticism through cheerleading but don't feign innocence about how the activity came about. In the US it's very much part of the high school hierarchy. The cliché didn't come from nowhere.

'spooky and scary' is very, very different to violent horror.

Why cant kids dress as more traditional witches/wizards/ghosts from stories theyve actually seen or read, rather than characters from 18 rated shows that they haven't watched, and dont understand the full context of?!

Because so many of them are so horrible, and it's meant to be suitable for younger children.

And that’s the problem right there.

Children know that Santa is a big fat guy. A small child dressed like that doesn't look like Santa or a serial killer! If it was a teenager it might be a bit more worrying to small children. And I would imagine most of the children knew exactly who was wearing the costume.

Yes. Very common. Get out from under your rock.

It’s all just horrible and unnecessary. I can’t understand why any parent would let an 8 year old child dress up as a character from a horror movie.

Oh. That's horrible.

Yikes that's Art the Clown, from the sequence in Terrifier 3 where he blows up a bunch of children in a mall. That is a WILDLY inappropriate thing to dress a child as. I am a horror junkie and huge fan of slashers but dear me. Time and a place.

It's the Terrifier. Art the Clown, definitely not B movies. Started in All Hallow's Eve and has 3 movies of his own now.

B movie wise, have you seen The Mean One? Christmas movie.

Halloween is meant to be cute for children aged seven.

Or are you suggesting slasher get up was appropriate for children of that age?

What on earth happened to a sheet over you with a couple of holes in it. Witches and wizard costumes.

Doesn't have to be full on gore for young primary school children. It is very much meant to be cute at that age.

The film Terrifier that it's from is too much for most adults too. I think its because this character has been made into a meme online so kids think hes funny - if the parents had looked even a tiny bit into this and would have realised immediately how inappropriate it is

How can you have a "no masks" policy for a halloween disco? Heard it all now! I also don't understand your issue with cheerleaders, my daughter was a zombie cheerleader last year at her primary school disco. Her outfit wasn't remotely "skimpy" she wears far less clothing for her dance competitions and as others point out quite a few children go to cheerleading clubs anyway, it's a form of dance/acrobatics, my child's dance school also offers pom classes.

While I agree the mask here is too much for a primary school halloween disco it's scary and a bit of an odd choice. I did say no to a few costumes my 7 year old wanted to go in because they were too scary for the little ones, he settled on the grim reaper, it does look a little creepy (hood, skelaton face and light up red eyes) but it is halloween! Some kids go as horror film characters, there was a fantastic pennywise costume last year, it did look freaky (he had his face painted, no mask) he obviously won't have had any idea what film the character was from (I know the mum well, he 100% hasn't seen the film), he was just a scary clown to him. Our school doesn't have any policy on dress code for the discos but the head did take any pretend weapons off the kids on the door last year, quite a few of the y5 and y6 last year came as deadpool etc.

Kid at my DS’s school brought along a plastic, but pretty realistic toy AK-47 to the school Halloween disco. His mum argued the toss with the Head who confiscated it and really didn’t understand why her child bringing a pretend assault rifle into a primary school might be seen as tasteless and inappropriate.. 🙄

Why did the school allow the mask?

No point in having a "no mask policy" if they then don't follow it

When we were kids in the 90s, my younger sister dressed up as someone who had been hanged for Halloween. In a homemade costume. I had to carry the end of her noose 😬

Cheerleading in the UK is nothing like the stereotypical US pompom waving of old. DN does it to a v high standard, nationally and internationally, and it is very athletic and highly skilled. The name is very misleading, I agree.
Oh and there are boys in her team.

Maybe not for adults, but for younger primary school children I think that it is.

It's Art the Clown from the Terrifier films. Great fun but probably not so much for small children...

I see no issue personally

Some parents just want to be seen as cool, edgy and different.

Well yes its not appropriate. But not much about halloween os if toh really think about it. If they have older siblings, they probably insisted in wearing their siblings costume.
I find pirates themes stuff particuarly disturbing. Usually aimed at preschoolers. My child had a pirate themed nursery set. I didnt really think about it at rhe time but I started to think mkre about it in recent years and really think it's bizarre that we put pirate themed stuff all over little kids clothingz play equipmenrt books etc. Thry are masically machette carrying murdering theives and rapists. Wholly innapropriate.