Confession: I hate Elf On A Shelf. We didn't have the little creature in my house when my kids were growing up. I think he looks creepy. I didn't want the work of shifting him around. Just give me some ornaments, garland, and tinsel (along with a cool wreath on the door) and I'm fine.
Lots of kids look forward to finding out where their Elf on the Shelf has hidden for the day at home, but a school in Hyde, England may change the way some of its students look at elves in the future. Recently, fourth graders at Flowery Field Primary School walked into their classroom to find they had a mystery to solve for the day, which sounds like a fun assignment, right? But it was a “murder scene” and their job was to figure out who killed their beloved elf, which was a bit much for at least one kid to process.
The parent of one of the eight- and nine-year-old students involved says the assignment “traumatized” her daughter. The kids walked in to find their classroom transformed into the scene of a crime, complete with fake blood splatter, overturned tables, and a “chalk outline” of an elf’s body. And the unnamed mom says the whole thing gave her daughter nightmares.
“The idea was Elf had been murdered by another elf,” the upset mom explains. “My daughter came home and she was absolutely traumatized.” The mother says her kid has to sleep in her bed that night because she was so upset and she claims her little girl isn’t the only one affected by the grizzly Christmas murder activity, but the school stands by their project.
Head teacher Ian Fell says the students were all excited about the task and that “none of them showed anything but full engagement.” He says it’s appropriate and engaging and the school says it has no plans to pull the activity in the future.
If you hate Elf On A Shelf like I do, do you find yourself cheering him on?