Halloween: Trick or Treat?
Reported by Jen Wright & Ana Imes
Jen
I’ve never gone trick-or-treating, and I’m a 21-year-old college student.
Some people might say I’m too old to even dress up for Halloween, but I think Halloween is a holiday that can be enjoyed by anyone.
As long as you are responsibly enjoying the holiday, there’s no reason to hold back.
I think the pros of celebrating Halloween outweigh the cons, and here’s why:
Halloween is for all ages, and there are different sides to the celebration, suitable for any age.
Kids under 10 can still enjoy similar dressing-up experiences, candy-induced sugar highs and obligatory jump scares that everyone else does!
Adults may have slightly different parties and different kinds of highs, but it all accomplishes the same thing: a fun time with friends.
Speaking of sugar highs, Candy Corn, licorice, taffy, lollipops, chocolate, Lemonheads, or whatever the kids are eating these days seems to be just as enticing as the caramel-dipped apples or popcorn balls of yore.
No matter what treat you choose, there’s something sweet for you to enjoy on Halloween.
The best source for those treats (unless you’ve discovered the best-kept secret that you can buy your own candy in bulk anywhere) is going door-to-door and convincing the neighbors (who you’ve said “hi” to once in passing) to give you candy.
That candy comes at a price: you have to be in costume, but transforming into the witch, wizard, pirate or politician of your dreams lets you unleash your fashion fantasies for a single night, every year.
There are costume parties, trick-or-treating or dressing up at school or work--these are all great opportunities to break out that fantastic character you’ve always wanted to be.
The plethora of haunted houses or mazes, ghost tours, or Halloween-themed escape rooms are great ways to get out all the screams you’ve been pushing back since the start of the school year.
Going out with your friends to release some pent-up stress with an adrenaline rush is a great way to spend the Halloween season; whether you’re a stoic or a scaredy-cat, a good scare can frighten away the seasonal depression.
Finally, the lore surrounding Halloween is never-ending. Historically, All Saints’ Day or Samhain were the origins of the holiday we celebrate today, but every tradition is a little different.
There are plenty of legends, traditions and ghost stories to satiate any appetite for the macabre.
Movies like “Hocus Pocus”, “Halloweentown”, or the “Halloween” series are great ways to celebrate the holiday by getting spooky with your friends, or all by yourself, in your empty bedroom, with the lights out…
You don’t have to ghost Halloween because you’re legally an adult, and the fun you have now might be more real than before.
I know I’m going to enjoy dressing up; a disco-era Phantom of the Opera would definitely be a great addition to any college campus!
Ana
I will never go trick-or-treating again, and I’m an 18-year-old college student.
Although Halloween in the United States is all fun and games on the surface, the risks of celebrating in traditional ways are legitimate.
Risk-benefit analyses for Halloween can change based on where you live and who you are, but for me, rational fear of the potential dangers associated with Halloween is much stronger than a desire for a night of shallow endeavors and sugar.
The idea of trick-or-treating is unhealthy and dangerous. Sending children out into dark streets and neighborhoods to knock on the doors of strangers isn’t something people would tolerate any other day of the year, but somehow, on this one day, parents allow it. This is a dangerous endeavor for children and adults alike.
You may object that many parents go trick-or-treating with their children before dark. In this case, they still risk exposing their children to traumatizing material displayed by neighbors who go overboard with the “scare factor.”
The act of trick-or-treating can arguably be said to teach children entitlement. Telling children that if they look cute in their costumes and demand candy they will get what they want could confuse their understanding of merit-based efforts. It isn’t respectful, and it frankly makes no sense.
To elaborate on the dangers of demanding candy, a common misconception among parents is that on Oct. 31 it is okay to let children eat as much candy as they want. Candy-binging is an unhealthy habit that can leave children and adults sick or craving sugar: a dangerous place to be as we enter a season of many holidays.
Many people enjoy dressing in costumes for Halloween. Although this activity is notably less dangerous, it can still put many on edge and cause more conflict than it’s worth. Gendered costumes, sexualization of children, and potential whitewashing are all factors that must be considered when choosing costumes for kids and adults. Do we really need that drama during this time in our country?
It is a well-known fact that emergency room visits increase dramatically on Halloween. Whether this is from children who ate way too much candy way too quickly, people having fear-induced heart attacks, or teenagers abusing dangerous substances at parties, or all of the above, this doesn’t seem worth it.
Why are we celebrating fear when life is already terrifying enough? I will not go trick-or-treating this year, or any year.