Should Students Go To School on MLK Day?
Mahwah students will be in class this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to make up for school days lost during Hurricane Sandy. One Patch blogger argues against holding classes that day.
Later this month, Mahwah students will be going to school on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In a decision last month, the Mahwah Board of Education voted to add several days during the President’s week break and MLK Day back into the school calendar to make up for days lost during Hurricane Sandy.
The decision was not one made only in Mahwah. Districts around the area were left to figure out how to make up for a week or more of days missed due to extended power outages after the storm.
Some districts, like Ramsey, added school days to the end of the year in June.
Like Mahwah, the Glen Rock school district chose to add in MLK Day to the school calendar.
A Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch blogger recently took to his computer to criticize the decision, arguing that having kids go to school on Jan. 21 this year ignores the significance of the holiday.
Patch blogger Sean Brennan called the board’s decision “unquestionably insensitive and out of touch. A singularly American holiday of reverence established only 30 years ago, this is a day to honor the legacy of Dr. King, to be inspired by him through a commitment of service, to remember where we have come from, extend our hands of friendship, broaden our community, and understand what work we still need to do.”
Mahwah school officials said that MLK Day will be a full day of school, but half of the day’s activities would be dedicated to service and learning about the significance of the holiday.
In his post, Brennan argued that learning about service is not giving students an opportunity to participate in service.
So, Patch wants to know, what do you think of the decision to have kids in school on MLK Day? Think school gives students an opportunity to learn about the holiday’s significance? Or, does it ignore the importance of the holiday? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
LKR
1:10 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
A day to educate specifically on Martin Luther King's contributions has greater value than children sleeping in and playing Xbox. Let his lessons be taught again and again. They far out way a vacation day
Jonathan N. Marcus, Esq.
5:13 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
I can understand the sensitivity to this issue since it took great collective effort to have Martin Luther King Jr. Day acknowledged as an "official" holiday across all 50 states.
The only item I can add to the debate is the discussion I had with some families who lost loved ones on September 11th. When we talked about whether they supported making September 11th a national holiday, they all objected to it. National holidays have, for the most part, become so commercialized that their true significance is lost on the masses. We have "Presidents' Day Sales", "Labor Day Sales", "Memorial Day Sales", "Veterans' Day Sales", "4th of July Sales", etc. etc. They did not want September 11th to eventually become just another day that would lose its true significance. In their mind, if the day was important to someone, they would find their own way to memorialize it. Just as those of the "Greatest Generation" may view December 7th.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an great man who carried a message that is still needed today. If we make our children go to school on his day but we use that day to educate our children on the greatness of this man and what he stood for, I cannot see the downside in it. Something tells me that Dr. King might likely agree.
Ted Baker
5:45 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
My wife is forcing me to go mattress shopping this weekend. Sheesh.
hsr
12:05 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
I think more of American history should be taught everyday, not just one thing about one important part of history in our country and our people.