Ontario Teachers "Bastardize" Christmas, Political Correctness "Gone Insane"

OTTAWA -- One of the more popular Christmas songs is getting a slight retooling by an Ottawa elementary school choir so as not to offend any students.

The teachers leading the Elmdale Public School choir -- made up of Grade 2 and 3 students -- have dropped the word Christmas from Silver Bells and replaced it with the word "festive."

So, when the choir performs the song tomorrow at a singalong assembly, instead of singing the line "soon it will be Christmas day" they will say "soon it will be a festive day."

This bit of revisionist tinkering of a favourite Christmas tune is not sitting well with one parent whose eight-year-old daughter is in the school choir.

"I think it is a silly thing to do," said Betty Clark, about the decision by the choir directors to change the song's lyrics.

She said it's a "shame" the lyric to a traditional Christmas song sung by many people at this time of year was changed to take on a more generic tone.

"It's a sad comment on the state of society today that we do this kind of thing," she said.

Although she said the altering of the lyric was troubling, Ms. Clark has decided not to pull her daughter out of the concert.

"My daughter loves the choir," she said.

Silver Bells is one of four Christmas songs being performed by the choir of 70 students, although it's the only song that has been altered, said principal Paula Marinigh.

The other songs in the musical program are Candles of Hanukkah, Candles of Christmas; Pere Noel and It's Christmas generally reflect the feelings about the holiday season, as well as the themes of Hanukkah and Christmas, she said.

"The choir teachers are trying to be as inclusive as they can be because not everybody is celebrating either Christmas or Hanukkah," Ms. Marinigh said.

The initiative for the lyric change came from the teachers and was not something imposed by the school board, she said.

"They [teachers] wanted to have a song that emphasized the holiday spirit, so they just changed the Silver Bells song to reflect a more generic flavour."

She said she supports the teachers' decision to alter the song, saying their intent in this case was not a problem.

"The idea in public schools is that everybody feels welcome and has a sense of comfort with the celebrations. I think it's being sensitive to not only the students in the choir, but also to the general population," she said.