The Halloween costume that went too far

News reports abounded yesterday about Halloween costumes that were age-inappropriate or too “sexy.” So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that one New Jersey 8th grader was sent home to change when his costume was deemed too distracting. What caused the Associated Press to pick up the story for national circulation, however, was the fact that Alex Woinski, an honor-roll student from an interfaith family, had chosen to wear a white robe, a red sash, sandals, and a crown of thorns.

“We’re a little stupified by this whole thing,” said the boy’s mother, Kim Woinski.

Jesus Christ was “one of the greatest men that ever lived,” she added. “If he went as Abe Lincoln would they say he couldn’t do that?”

Woinski said her son complied with the requests of teachers and administrators, without complaint, and called his mother to pick him up. He was home for an hour and a half before returning to school.

When she went to pick her son up from school, administrators were unavailable to speak with her regarding the matter. But in an effort to comply with their requests she took her son home, she said.

“It’s not like he’s not a good student. The kid’s on the high honor roll,” she said.

Woinski is Catholic while her husband is Jewish. Their son, who had recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and has been studying Bible scripture, is interested in Jesus as an historical and religious figure, according to his mother.

He wanted to translate that interest into a Halloween costume.

From the hometown report at the Bergen Record, here.

CBS 2 also covered the story here.

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