14 DAY TRIAL // Officials at a school in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia have decided to ban Mother's Day and make way for a day that celebrates families of all shapes and sizes.
Children at the Astral Drive Elementary School are being taught to celebrate the International Day of Families.
The policy has been in place for the last two years, as there is no law stating that schools are bound to Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
According to CTV News, some parents are upset over their child not getting to celebrate Mother's Day, a custom observed in other institutions in the area.
“They weren’t allowed to make a card or a craft at Mother’s Day. [...] So, I asked my friends that go to schools in the neighboring area, and they said yes, that their child had come home with a Mother’s Day card or craft, and it was a little upsetting to me,” mother Michelle Allaby says.
Some parents support the concept, on the other hand. Having a family day fits in the reality of having children with divorced, single or gay parents.
“Children can be isolated in a classroom if they’ve lost their mom or are in a family without a dad or in a family with two moms or two dads,” Education Minister Ramona Jennex explains.
“I think it’s a great idea because of the diverse families that there are today,” Colleen Ferguson, the parent of a child enrolled in the Elementary School notes.
“I am the head of a single-family home, and I am mother and father,” Shirley Owen adds.
Jennex stresses that every school has to be allowed to decide on whether or not to observe Mother's Day.
On this Mother's Day, children had to write down the names of the family members that made the most difference in their lives and hang the notes up in a tree in the gym.