Not all Samo students are Christian
Riya Kahtod, Co-News Editor
Dear School Board,
Not everyone is Christian. Not everyone is Jewish. So why do all Santa Monica schools have Christmas off, but Hindu students are mandated to attend school on Diwali and Muslim students on Eid-al-Adha and Eid-al-Fitr. This oversight affects students’ grades and makes their religion feel less important than others.
Santa Monica is an ethnically and religiously diverse city, and with this diversity should come increased accommodations for students practicing a religion other than Christianity. A major component of Samo, and all schools in general, is treating students equally, regardless of religious affiliation. Unfortunately, Samo’s calendar does not reflect this inclusivity.
“Diwali is just as important a holiday as Christmas… it doesn’t seem very much like an open-minded district if they’re restricting what holidays we get off. It almost seems like they are choosing which ones are the most popular or important to the majority of the community,” Anjali Devgan (’23) said.
The negligence of minority religious holidays affects how students view the importance of some holidays, including their own. While certain religious holidays are important enough to warrant a day off, theirs do not receive the same attention. There is already a major difference in the attention these holidays receive by the public, further aggravated by Christmas decorations cropping up before thanksgiving and not disappearing until January. This lack of attention doesn’t only affect students who celebrate minority religions, but also enforces the idea to students of other religions that their holidays are more important.
Not recognizing important religious holidays for non Christian or Jewish students is not only blatantly disregarding religious tolerance, but also overlooks the students who are unable to attend school and observe the holiday at the same time. Missing school for a religious holiday, although excused, is like any other absence. Students miss tests and important assignments, and unlike when staying home sick, may not be able to work on any assignments as they are spending time with family or praying at a church, temple or mosque. This oversight is detrimental to students’ grades, and forces them to play catch up when they return to school. Some religions are even forced to adjust their religious calendars to correspond with weekends.
“Because we don’t have days off for Buddhist holidays in the U.S., we always push full moon events and other Buddhist holidays to weekends, usually Sundays,” Skylar Vitanachi (’23) said.
So please, consider adding these days to the SMMUSD calendar and take into account the non-Christian and Jewish students living in and attending Santa Monica schools. The addition of certain minority religious holidays does almost nothing to the school calendar, except add a few extra days to the end of the year.
Sincerely,
An Indian student who wants Diwali off
