Education

School tells Christian to change out of Jesus costume on Halloween

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School officials at a public high school in the ritzy North Shore suburbs of Chicago told a student he couldn’t wear a Jesus costume on Halloween.

Highland Park High School student Marshon Sanders came to school definitely looking the part of Jesus Christ: the long locks, the big wooden cross, the crown of thorns, the red sash, the flowing robe — striking.

He faced disciplinary action on Wednesday almost as soon as school began, reports WGN.

“In first period, I got pulled out immediately — 10, 15 minutes into the class,” Sanders said.

According to WGN, staffers and some students thought the outfit resembling the central figure of Christianity violated a school policy outlawing anything that could maybe, possibly upset someone.

The specific school policy reads: “Costumes that could be offensive or perpetuate a stereotype of someone’s culture, gender, sexual orientation, heritage or religion are not permitted.”

Sanders insisted that the policy did not apply in his case. He said he is an avid Christian and a big fan of Jesus Christ.

“He’s influential in my life,” the high schooler said.

Sanders added that he had recently been baptized.

The boy’s mother also showed up to clear the air.

She went to the school “just to kind of get an understanding about what happened,” she said. “You know, how did we get here?”

After a meeting involving the boy, his mother and school administrators, the administrators deigned to allow the Christian student to wear the Jesus costume after all.

“We initially were concerned that the costume could be offensive to religious sensibilities,” Highland Park High said in a statement obtained by WGN. “Upon further review, we realized the student did not intend to be offensive. Therefore, the school communicated to the student that he could wear the costume.”

Sanders decided he didn’t want to wear the costume after the kerfuffle, though. For the rest of the school day, he was just dressed as himself.

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