A day care center in Melbourne, Australia, is making waves for all the wrong reasons after it decided to forgo a typical visit from Santa this Christmas. Instead of jolly Saint Nick joining the festivities, the center replaced him with a pirate — a sustainability pirate. Sure, it's nice that kids are learning about the importance of recycling, but some people think the move is just a wee bit ridiculous.
A copy of the party invitation was slipped to an Australian radio host, Neil Mitchell, and the pirate matter blew up from there.
An anonymous parent sent Mitchell a copy, but the radio host refused to mention which day care center it was, according to radio station 3AW.Â
âThis yearâs party will be a get-together picnic and fresh food swap for children and families to celebrate the end of year,â the invitation read.Â
OK, normal so far.
âSustainability Pirate will be attending and we will have a Nature Treasure Hunt."
Wait, what?
âWe are looking forward to see[ing] you at the celebration picnic.â
The day care center was later revealed to be Kensington Childrenâs Cooperative.
The day care center recently received new grant funding for environmental projects, according to Yahoo! News. The center reportedly confirmed to News 7, in a post that has been taken down, that the decision was made to be more inclusive, hoping to make everyone feel welcome regardless of their religious or spiritual beliefs.
But one parent who spoke with the Australian news station had a strong opinion about the Christmas switch. Kristoffer Paulsen described it as âPC gone wild.â
âIf anyone has any clues about the sustainability pirate and what drugs they were taking when they came up with that, I would like to know,â Paulsen said. âAll the parents are getting on social media and getting a bit cranky about it, so obviously there are some heated opinions about Santa."
It was true, people online HATED Sustainability Pirate.
The story was also covered by Australian news show Sunrise, and in video posted to the show's Facebook page December 11, more than 6,000 commenters weren't afraid to sound off about the day care center's decision.
"Oh for [expletive's] it's Christmas time!!" one woman wrote in the comments of the video. "Most people who come here embrace our Christmas festivities, and for those who don't….stay home!"
"Ah yes, I have fond memories of my holiday season 40 years ago eagerly awaiting my time to visit the local sustainability pirate at our local shopping centre," another man joked. "Seriously? What are we doing to our heritage?"
Another woman had this to say: "Ummm..this is very sad!!! It is a daycare in AUSTRALIA where we celebrate Christmas and SANTA! There has already been pirate day this year! Did they check with everyone first to make sure everyone likes pirates??? Let Santa have his time and celebrate!"
Teaching kids about sustainability is a great thing! We 100% support going green, but perhaps Sustainability Pirate could have made an appearance after Christmas — after all, Earth Day is only a few months away.
