A secondary school in the UK has lifted its 'ban on Christmas' after students sent hundreds of emails to convince teachers why they should be allwed to celebrate at this time of year
ADVERTISEMENTA secondary school in the UK has reversed its decision to "ban Christmas" after hundreds of emails and letters were sent in response, convincing teachers why celebrations should continue.
Lady Lumley's School in North Yorkshire first posted a statement to its website in mid-November, saying the children had been told Christmas would be cancelled for 2018 as the meaning had been "lost and buried under an avalanche of commercialisation".
"Christmas is a day celebrating the birth of Jesus and should be a time of goodwill to all, yet it can be a very stressful, expensive, argumentative and lonely time," the school said.
Students were then requested to direct emails to scrooge@ladylumleys.net, detailing their reasons why they believed Christmas should still be celebrated in a bid to change the school's mind.
Over the course of the ten days that followed, more than 500 emails and letters were posted, convincing the school to reverse the ban.
Confirming the change of heart in a statement released on Tuesday, the school said it had been implemented to encourage students "to discuss and to explore their own ideas and those of others".
"They had to consider the way in which society celebrates Christmas and think about the social problems that arise around this time.
"Culturally, students were asked to challenge the status quo; to ask 'why should we do things just because we have always done them?' and spiritually, how do we deal with the emotions of disappointment, anger, the feeling that a decision is unfair and to question whether non-religious people should celebrate a religious festival?
"Those students who really thought about the situation and challenged the decision appropriately created the change and brought back Christmas."
In an email conversation with Euronews, Lady Lumley's School headteacher Richard Bramley said the school only had one chance to carry out the Christmas challenge, making it more important to get things right.
"The school could only do this exercise once in the memory of the student body as otherwise there would be no belief in the possibility of a ban," he said. "As expected and intended, this exercise has generated some discussion among the students in the school and a good response to the request for written arguments against the proposal.
"As headteacher, I have been very impressed by the way students and staff have contributed to this exercise whilst not affecting the day-to-day teaching and learning in the school."