Another Halloween has passed us and I wonder why we don't allow our kids to participate in the "trick" part of "trick-or-treating" any more. A long time ago, that phrase was a question and a threat. Give me some decent treats or get vandalized. Even a good treat wasn't enough to protect you that night if you landed on a child's mischief list.
In the classic film, Meet Me in St. Louis, Halloween in the early 20th century is depicted. The kids in town, all without supervision, seemed far less interested in treats and far more interested in the dastardly deeds they were going to participate in. Some of those deeds were dastardly ingenious.
We've come a long way since then. It used to be understood that it was okay to let kids run amuck for an evening, committing minor acts of destruction. It was part of the growing up experience. Something for adults to chuckle about when they thought of their own Halloween exploits.
Now everything is safe and supervised. There isn't the opportunity to be creative. Our costumes are pre-made. There isn't even a chance of getting hurt or in trouble. And kids can't even hope to be naughty. In fact, it is criminal if they are naughty. They must be well-behaved for the evening. It's a completely different-and boring-Halloween from much earlier years.
Unfortunately, we don't live in the same safe world that existed a hundred years ago or even fifty years ago. The world was so innocent back then that we didn't worry about letting our kids run off by themselves to misbehave. In fact, adults chuckled about their own Halloween activities as a child.
Now we have to inspect the treats for anything tampered because someone really does want to hurt our children. Homemade treats aren't acceptable; there is too much chance of a creep adding something evil inside. Kids are truly in danger of getting hurt or kidnapped.
My desire for a more scary night like 'it used to be' is really a desire for a safer life. I long for a time when the world was good enough that we could allow children to be bad for an evening. - 15485
In the classic film, Meet Me in St. Louis, Halloween in the early 20th century is depicted. The kids in town, all without supervision, seemed far less interested in treats and far more interested in the dastardly deeds they were going to participate in. Some of those deeds were dastardly ingenious.
We've come a long way since then. It used to be understood that it was okay to let kids run amuck for an evening, committing minor acts of destruction. It was part of the growing up experience. Something for adults to chuckle about when they thought of their own Halloween exploits.
Now everything is safe and supervised. There isn't the opportunity to be creative. Our costumes are pre-made. There isn't even a chance of getting hurt or in trouble. And kids can't even hope to be naughty. In fact, it is criminal if they are naughty. They must be well-behaved for the evening. It's a completely different-and boring-Halloween from much earlier years.
Unfortunately, we don't live in the same safe world that existed a hundred years ago or even fifty years ago. The world was so innocent back then that we didn't worry about letting our kids run off by themselves to misbehave. In fact, adults chuckled about their own Halloween activities as a child.
Now we have to inspect the treats for anything tampered because someone really does want to hurt our children. Homemade treats aren't acceptable; there is too much chance of a creep adding something evil inside. Kids are truly in danger of getting hurt or kidnapped.
My desire for a more scary night like 'it used to be' is really a desire for a safer life. I long for a time when the world was good enough that we could allow children to be bad for an evening. - 15485
About the Author:
Author Kasey Morton writes extensively on a large range of topics. He writes on many subjects related to small businesses, marketing, movies, and insurance matters. He has a particular interest in nursing jobs and travel nursing jobs.
