Zee Beam News

October 31, 2007 – Radio Liberty – The Moscow city education authorities announced in a statement on October 31 a ban on "Halloween events" in the capital's schools, Interfax reported. The statement noted that the policy has been in force since 2003. The reason for the ruling is because the holiday "includes religious elements, such as the cult of death, the mockery of death, and the personification of death and evil, which contradict the secular nature of state educational institutions." The authorities added that unnamed psychiatrists support the ban on the grounds that Halloween is "destructive to the minds and the spiritual and moral health of pupils."