Stupid parent tricks.

When I was thirteen or so (about seventh grade), my class petitioned the school to be allowed to watch The Crow before Halloween.  My school deliberated, then sent home permission slips because the movie was rated R, and parents and school officials worried about our innocence then. 

I brought the permission slip home, let my mom read the letter, and she refused to sign the slip because she didn't want me to see the movie.  Simple solution, and didn't spoil it for everyone else.

Something's wrong with modern parents, though--especially atheists.  Instead of refusing to sign the permission slip, a group of parents are setting up a fuss about a school in Arkansas that had the opportunity to take the kids to see a live, stage production of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  The parents are making the fuss about the school taking the kids to the play--at all--because of the religious overtones to the play, and because the performance is being held inside a church.

No, she's not refusing to sign the permission slip--the one quoted doesn't want her child singled out--but she'd sure be as pleased as punch if the school caves to her demands to not take the kids to the play at all.  She'd rather ruin it for everyone, because she can't stand the thought that somebody somewhere might be made happy by something she disapproves of. 

It's not exactly stealing candy from small children to make them cry, but it's close in spirit.