Every year when the fall season comes around, Halloween does too. People prepare for the festivities by decorating their homes with spooky, haunting decorations. Everyone that participates wears costumes of all sorts. Some costumes are fun, scary, or just ridiculously unique. I question Halloween as a holiday. It serves no extraordinary purpose. It also contradicts several teachings that parents inform their children not to do. Americans should abolish Halloween as a traditional holiday.
I remember many things that my mother taught me when I was young. She told me not to answer the door for any strangers. She taught me to stay clear of strangers; to avoid talking to them. I was by no means to ever take candy from a stranger. Halloween was a night when I was able to run around door to door asking strangers to “Trick or treat,” me. Why was it that my mother told me that I should avoid strangers, but on this night my goal was to go to strangers’ doors attempting to gather as much candy as possible? It makes no sense. There are a lot of unfavorable outcomes that can happen on Halloween. After I would awkwardly frolic in neighborhoods paved of chocolates and sweets came the candy sifting process.
I would precisely meander through my candy looking for anything that should belong in the, “Needs to be thrown away pile.” This would include: candy that appeared to be already opened, anything homemade (besides Miss Renée’s brownies), and anything that was damaged. My mom was concerned about the big scare of anthrax. Some people handing out candy on Halloween were lacing their treats with anthrax which was poisoning kids. The fear of strangers poisoning kids’ candy is real. There’s no reason to take the risk of eating poisoned candy on Halloween. Friends of mine love the holiday, but they believe that they will beat the odds. If that’s optimism, then I would rather be a pessimist.
So, let’s send children out at night to collect a bunch of sweets. Parents usually don’t want their children eating too many sweets. Sweets that are handed out on Halloween are unhealthy. Chocolates and sweets lead to health problems. High blood sugar, diabetes, heart issues, and hyperactivity are some health risks associated to overconsumption of sweets. On Halloween this just doesn’t matter though. People hand out candy to children so they can stuff their faces until they feel ill.
People have mentioned that after Halloween their candy was monitored by their parents. The parents allow their children to swarm up a stash of candy and then put a restriction on it. Does that make it better? Parents allow Halloween to contradict plenty of lessons that they hammered into their children’s head. Don’t talk to strangers. Stop eating so many sweets. Behave and stay out of trouble. I know you’ve heard it before. So why let Halloween contradict those lessons? There’s no purpose in teaching children that every once in a while (on Halloween) it’s okay to ignore everything that they’ve been taught. Obedience is a crucial component of children’s lives.
Another disturbing factor of Halloween is that trick-or-treaters roam the streets after dark. A solid percentage of these children go out unattended in groups with their peers. Brilliant! This is another conflicting element of Halloween. There are many parents that teach their children to be home by a curfew growing up. Curfews are typically set to dinner time or before dark. I was taught that once the street lights came on in my neighborhood, it was time to be home. On Halloween kids are ramming about unfamiliar streets/neighborhoods. When darkness falls crime rates are sky-rocketed. Crimes such as assaults, kidnappings, rapes, shootings, murders, and burglaries are much higher after bedtime hours. So why are parents sending their children out after dark on Halloween?
Commonly children are intrigued by the fact Halloween practices take place in the dark of day. They will debate that Halloween wouldn’t be the same if it were to take place in the middle of the day. Kids would argue saying that if Halloween took place during the day it would take away from the fun. This statement is weak. If naïve children were knowledgeable enough to understand the risky behaviors that happen late at night they wouldn’t want to go “Trick or treating.” Let’s take the time to lay out any horrid outcomes that could happen on Halloween. Does the risk seem worth it to you?
I asked my grandfather how he felt about Halloween. He nodded his head with disgust and blew out a slow puff of breath. He said that the holiday has been lost to what it was actually supposed to be. He went on about how it rooted from the spread of Western Christianity. Halloween does not mean the same thing to children today. My grandfather made a strong point that children feel entitled to the sweets on Halloween. All they have to do is say the words and open their pillowcase. What happened to the value of earning something? Nowadays Halloween’s about dressing up in costumes and going door-to-door collecting as much goodies as possible. Halloween wasn’t supposed to be about providing children with candy. It was meant to be a celebration of religious freedom. The purpose has failed.
On Halloween kids knock on neighbors’ doors saying “Trick or treat.” One interpretation of the term “Trick or treat,” basically means give me a treat or I’m going to pull a trick on you. This means that if the strangers do not provide a treat then something detrimental may happen to them. This may include egging their house, ringing their doorbell repetitively and running away, or any other mischievous wrongdoing. On the other hand an interpretation of the term is that the stranger has the option to trick, or treat the Halloween participants. What exactly can this trick be? Is the stranger going to hold me hostage? Will the stranger make me do something I don’t want to? Will the stranger assault me? Is the stranger going to give me poisoned candy? I don’t want anything like that to happen!
Sure it may seem that no one wants to think of the negative things that can happen. We hope that people have good intentions and would never do anything terrible. The truth is that there are unpleasant people in this world. If you don’t agree then go to prison and ask some inmates what they have done. Halloween provides loopholes for people to commit uncomforting crimes and actions. People are willing to send their children out on Halloween because it’s fun. What an irrational perspective. Crime is out there! Bad people! And darkness!
Halloween is a holiday? It may have seemed like it in our young, independent, susceptible minds, but the pros do not outweigh the cons. Why should we risk children lives and attempt to beat the odds of possible faulty outcomes? There’s candy being handed out that’s poisoned. The sweets provide children with a sense of entitlement; that on Halloween they deserve candy. The nighttime provides an endless amount of risky behaviors. Children are nullified from previous lessons they’ve been taught. Halloween’s meaning is no longer present in its festivities that go on today. I’ve dodged a bullet, but the next victim of Halloween could be someone close to you. Halloween needs to go!
