Winding parades of pint-sized princesses and superheroes are being shortened or cut completely from the halls of local elementary schools this Oct. 31.

“As they get older they tend not to want to parade around in costume,” said Julie Wirth, office secretary at Leal Elementary, 312 W. Oregon St.

Teachers in the Urbana school will make the final call on whether or not their classes don masks and wigs this Wednesday.

Story times once reserved for spooky ghost tales and classroom constructions of pipe cleaner ‘bats’ and paper jack-o-lanterns are becoming a thing of the past.

“It was a whole day dedicated to Halloween,” remembered Angela DeLongis, sophomore in LAS. “Everyone dressed up. No school stuff, we’d just play games and get candy.”

Memories like these have been grounds for ending fright fests in classrooms nationwide. Administrators claim festivities are only an excuse to waste time that should be devoted to learning.

“We used to play this game where someone would sit in a chair and we’d race to wrap them in toilet paper to make a mummy,” reminisced Katie Towers, sophomore in LAS.

Prairie Elementary, 2102 E. Washington St., abandoned diversions like these 10 years ago. The Urbana school’s staff thought disparity between costumes was creating unnecessary tensions and distractions for students.

Tykes in Champaign are also told to leave their fairy wings and Dracula fangs behind when they head to school on Halloween.

“They can put on costumes when they get home,” said Joanne Miller, office manager at Westview Elementary, 703 S. Russell St.

Safety concerns ended the fun of costumes for Piotr Karwowski, sophomore in LAS, when he was a second grader in an inner-city Chicago school.

“They were afraid we would hurt each other with the fake weapons, which, in all honesty, we probably would have,” Karwowski said.

The reasoning behind restrictions on fake weapons is less controversial than other explanations for outlawing Halloween.

Some schools have seen a backlash because of religious concern.

“Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to participate,” said Cathy Simon, former Leal Elementary school teacher. “For others it’s a personal choice not necessarily required by the church, but supported among groups within the church.”

Administrators face accusations that allowing Halloween in the classroom equates to fostering intolerance and discrimination.

Outcry over glorifying occult practices has brought an end to many All Hallows Eve activities.

Marissa Murphy, freshman in LAS, feels otherwise. “It’s just a silly holiday, so why not just let kids have fun and dress up?” she said.

Cutting candy corn out of the classroom does not solve all the safety anxieties surrounding costumed adventures but it does satisfy those with health concerns over the nature of sweet treats associated with the holiday.

Bite-sized Butterfingers will have to be collected during the designated “trick or treat hours,” dictated in many communities.

“I know in some places they have to be done by like six so kids aren’t out past dark,” said sophomore in LAS Sara Rambo. Saving witch hats and wands for the evening hours still leaves little ghosts and goblins vulnerable to tainted treats and sexual offenders.

Prairie Elementary School found a different solution to combat dangers.

It eliminated any clamor about costumes, games and candy by banning celebrations during the school day. Instead, students and their families can choose to attend a “Fall Festival” during evening hours.

Generic celebrations of autumn are slowly beginning to outnumber the hallway Halloween parades, scary movie screenings and costume contests among students.

Towers, who once pranced around her elementary classroom with pompoms dressed as an Illini cheerleader, lamented the end of schoolyard celebrations.

“Everything is just becoming so controversial. It’s just a fun childhood celebration,” she said.

Most schools however, are choosing to abandon this innocent interpretation.