It’s been happening for years now, rapidly snowballing up to this point. The word “Christmas” has now officially been banned from public schools across the country, for the prevention of possibly offending people of different faith.

Having attended public schools all my life, I have seen traces of evidence that have shown the spreading of this epidemic of political paranoia. In third grade, teachers were no longer permitted to decorate the classroom for the holidays, even if they included all religions. At Kennedy School in 2007, the principal at that time banned the term “Christmas tree,” and decided it would thereby be known as a “family tree.”

Now, I wonder, if I were a person of a faith that did not celebrate Christmas, would I be offended by other people simply saying something like “Santa”? Well, I know I am not offended by people saying menorah, so how is it any different in the former situation?

Perhaps I am being presumptuous in saying that people who do not celebrate Christmas are not offended by jolly men in red suits, or festively decorated pine trees, but the question is, why? How in the world are reindeer and holly offensive?

Maybe it is the commercialization of Christmas that has their granny panties in a bunch. Perhaps the constant advertisements for holiday sales and once-a-year deals rather than the birth of Jesus is what ticks them off.

But if these are not your beliefs, then why do you care? If you were, for example, a devout Christian who believes that Christmas should revolve around religious practices, it is understandable why you would not appreciate what Christmas has become in America.

But if you are a parent who practices some other religion, and you cannot fathom your child being exposed to the apparently harmful terms associated with Christmas, something is obviously wrong. They are just words. What are they going to do, burn your child’s ears just because you do not share beliefs with certain religions?

The point is, sheltering students of America’s public schools from words is pointless. They are just words.