Halloween has come and gone once again and the kids will be in a sugar coma for the next week. I have mixed feelings about Halloween. My parents were actually married on Halloween. Can you imagine your anniversary being spent giving out candy to goblins and witches every year? Back in the day, Halloween was a big deal. I remember literally hundreds of trick or treaters coming to our door each year. My mother always counted and proudly gave us the grand total at the end of the evening (I tried last night and I don't know how she kept count!). The Halloween parties were always something to remember. We actually had bobbing for apples and some really fun haunted houses and haunted barns. It was great fun. As a college student, I worked at Knott's Berry Farm and participated in Halloween Haunt, or Knott's Scary Farm as it is known now. It was great fun (what teen doesn't love scaring children?!).
But nothing stays the same. Halloween is not the holiday it once was. One local city, Murrieta, sent out letters to all of the registered sex offenders in the city, discouraging them from handing out candy to children. This seems like a no-brainer and should be part of their parole/probation, but apparently it's not a law...but rather a suggestion. This comes just days after a local sex offender drove into the parking lot of our local sheriff's station and flagged down an officer to let him know that he had a body in the truck of his car. It turned out to be a 48 year old woman who had recently become involved with him. It's not clear if she knew about his past. Either way, he was a danger to society and we should know that. The recidivism rate with sex offenders is off the charts. Most of them repeatedly offend. The only difference is that they learn that if they leave a victim to testify, they will go to jail, so their crimes become more advanced and more sinister, if that is possible. As I write this, our local school district has reported that a man has been trying to abduct girls walking to school in the morning. What better time to do that than around Halloween, when a person can wear a costume and get away with it?
Each year on Halloween, I cringe when I turn on the news and hear what has been given out to children. Candy with razor blades, LSD dots, and rat poison in candy corn balls comes to mind. This year, I heard two bizarre stories. Marijuana legalization proponents were giving out marijuana-laced brownies (another reason not to eat anything that isn't professionally packaged). Half the time, older kids and teens were eating this stuff before they got home and mom had a chance to check out the candy. Some kids got flavored condoms in their Halloween goody bags. Not sure what this world is coming to, but maybe it's time to reconsider how we celebrate this holiday. Hmmmm...there's an oxymoron for you. Holiday = Holy day = All Hallows Eve?
Most of us wouldn't even consider sending our children door to door for other reasons, so why for candy? I know it's about the tradition, the "experience", and the fun of it, but wouldn't it be more reasonable for families with kids to get together to provide an old-fashioned costume party? If each family contributed what they would give out for Halloween, there would be no shortage of candy. With the stranger-danger that our kids face every day (and it seems like it's so much more prevalent now than it was years ago), I think it's time to reassess the Halloween traditions we all grew up with. It was either safer when we were children, or we were just all naive to the danger. Knowing it's out there, we have to protect our children. I'm sure Halloween lovers may call me a witch or something similar for saying this, but perhaps we should change Halloween traditions and ban the door to door trick or treating. It's unfortunate, but for the safety of children, we should think up a better alternative and not dangle the carrot to those who would hurt them. "Safe and sane" is a concept that should be able to be applied to any holiday, not just the fourth of July.
No comments:
Post a Comment