Brockman Elementary School in South Carolina canceled its annual father-daughter dance — which was intended to raise money for the school’s parent-teacher organization — because fewer than ten people complained that it wasn’t “inclusive.”
It gets worse: According to local news source WIS-TV, the flyer advertising the dance explicitly stated that the event was not limited to just fathers and daughters, and that all were welcome to attend. Or, in other words: It was — objectively — inclusive.
Of course, objective truth is rarely a match for the “I’m offended” argument these days, and this case was no exception. The dance, which had raised thousands of dollars for the PTO over the years, just had to be canceled.
Now, according to WIS-TV, school officials have stated that they may still host a dance on the originally planned date (May 13) but that it would be called “Brockman Ball” so as not to offend anyone.
This is, quite frankly, garbage. Sure, there are going to be some students at any school who don’t have fathers, but should this really mean that all of the students who do can’t celebrate them?
I certainly hope not. I mean, my mom is dead, and I’m sick of getting advertising e-mails asking me if I’ve bought her anything for Mother’s Day yet, but I’m not going to expect the whole damned thing to be canceled or renamed just because of my feelings. I just, you know, deal with it — which is really something that more people should be encouraged to try more often.