Why the big deal over Halloween?
Halloween in Canada is no longer about trick or treating, bobbing for apples and trying to outdo the other kids with a really cool costume.
It’s now about para noia, political correctness, and parents trying to over-manage their children.
Times are changing. Years ago, it must have been harder to offend people. Today, many costumes are considered tasteless and insensitive.
In the good old days, candy wasn’t considered evil. It was, in fact, a treat for many kids. Any elementary school teacher can tell you the kids would show up to school for the next several days on a sugar buzz.
In the years of the baby boom, when houses were mostly occupied by young families, it was great to go door-to-door in the neighbourhood. It wasn’t uncommon for a home owner to go through several bowls of candy on Oct. 31.
Handing out candy to children was fun, seeing what they were wearing, saying hello to the young Moms and Dads who tagged along in the background to assure their kids were okay.
Who doesn’t have an old Polaroid shot or grainy home movie of at least one of their Halloweens during childhood?
In the old days there was the paranoia of razorblades in apples. This year, the warnings are about candy laced with fentanyl. (It it has a witch on the label ... throw it out!)
A handful of school boards across Canada told their students not to come dressed up for Halloween.
What a great advertisement for home schooling. There has to be greater problems facing the educational system than children showing up dressed as Buzz Lightyear or Princess Elsa of Arendelle. Get a grip educators — it’s one day a year.
Instead of looking at what’s bad about Halloween, let’s look at what’s good.
Candy, dressing up, spooky movies, bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, the Michael Jackson Thriller video, The Simpson’s Halloween Special, roasting pumpkin seeds... it’s all great fun.
Halloween also forces kids to be creative and original whether it’s carving a pumpkin or deciding what to wear.
Depending on what day of the week Halloween falls on, Oct. 31 can be one of the best bar and party nights of the year... with adults.
Adults like to have fun. Maybe Halloween reminds us of when we were children. For many of us, Halloween was a close second to Christmas for excitement and anticipation.
To put an end to this traditional ritual would be robbing children of a big part of their childhood. Let’s hope it never comes to that. Quick, somebody cue The Monster Mash.