Primary school pupils ask:

Is a chocolate Nicolo halal or haram?

I don't think it makes sense to prescribe celebrations for kindergartens and schools. Especially when these celebrations have a religious origin. However, the fact that more and more kindergartens are no longer celebrating St. Nicholas' Day has left me puzzled. Why? In over thirty years of service, no pupil has ever had a problem with a chocolate Santa Claus in their homemade boot.

I currently teach a second primary school class. There are 25 Muslim pupils, 19 of whom come from Syria. The question came up this week: Is a chocolate Nicolo now halal or haram? To be more precise: are Muslims allowed to eat it?

I said yes. Firstly, chocolate doesn't contain pork, and secondly, we don't pray to St. Nicholas. We sing and celebrate because a man once supported poor children. At a time when there was no welfare. The pupils understood and immediately wanted to sing so that there would be chocolate in their seats on December 6.

Susanne Wiesinger is a teacher at a school in Vienna's Favoriten district and an author.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

As Hamza didn't seem happy, I asked him what he thought. "Can you also make Nikolos out of Dubai chocolate?" he wanted to know. "Well, maybe that's yet to come," was my reply. A nine-year-old may have discovered a gap in the market.

So if schoolchildren boycott St. Nicholas parties, it's only because they've been banned beforehand. Children enjoy every party. But as soon as adults get involved, the conflicts begin.