Halloweenies -- The ghouls of political correctness take the fun out of being a kid

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Saturday, November 01, 2003 | Francine E. Rose

[Willie Green]

Halloween is over, but I can still see beaming ghosts and goblins, witches and sorcerers, monsters and hip-hop stars parading around outside my local elementary school yesterday. They were the lucky kids; many schools offered only "harvest celebrations" yesterday.

The harvest celebrators saw Halloween as someone else's holiday. When my children were in preschool, both Jewish and Christian schools objected to Halloween. The Jewish preschool teachers explained to me, a Christian, that Halloween celebrated a Christian holiday, All Saint's Day. Though I grew up Catholic, this was news to me, but OK, no Halloween party in Jewish preschool. One year later, in a Christian preschool: no Halloween party because Halloween was a devil-worshipping, Satanic holiday.

[Willie Green]

I don't know why, but last night was the slooooowest Halloween I've ever experienced in my life. We had less than a dozen kids in 4~5 groups come through our neighborhood last night. (Just a fraction of what we had last year.)

The weather was a little chilly, but still pretty clear and calm. Heck, even 6" of snow wouldn't stop the trick-or-treaters back in Pennsylvania.

I don't know what happened.
But oh well... tough beans for the kiddies.
That's just more candy for Willie Green to polish-off while watching football.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

My six year old son informed me that some kids don't celebrate Halloween because it is Satan's birthday.

I then explained to him that Satan/Lucifer wasn't human, and doesn't have a birthday. Then we went trick or treating! :)

[Hacksaw]

I don't know why, but last night was the slooooowest Halloween I've ever experienced in my life. We had less than a dozen kids in 4~5 groups come through our neighborhood last night. (Just a fraction of what we had last year.)

I didn't have as many kids either. I still ran out of candy though (part of that was my fault).

[Salgak]

Same thing here. . . guess the PC weenies have won. . . THIS round. . .

[LizardQueen]

I liked this article. It's true - all the fun has gone out of being a kid.

I used to ride my bike to the opposite side of LONG ISLAND, NY! On a Schwinn 3 speed. I'd leave early on a Saturday AM and get back by dark, no helmet, etc. It had to have been around 40 miles round trip (I lived on the South shore, biked to Port Washington).

And Halloween - Omigod. Sis and I plotted out a map where
we'd hit the max number of houses without having to repeat our steps. And we scheduled in a "candy dump" at my parents house halfway through, because we were so loaded down that we could barely walk. Plus, we found out you got more if your bag was almost empty ::lol:: , mercenary little beasts that we were.

LQ

[Willie Green]

Did yinzes have many halloweenies show up at yinz's hauses n'at???

[xsmommy]

about 20 halloweeners all told. bout what we usually get. we live up in a culdesac and maybe not many come all the way up in here, but xskids and xs2pup went further and farther than usual this year and got a BUTTLOAD of candy. thankfully, my kids have never attended a school where it was forbidden to celebrate Halloween or any other holiday.

[xm177e2]

Collecting hundreds of dollars for UNICEF, teenagers felt grown-up and useful. Trading in your candy bag for a UNICEF box was a rite of passage.

Wow, that's almost enough to build a suicide bomb belt, or to sponsor a dozen Palestinian children for a month of jihad summer camp training.

[Willie Green]

I then explained to him that Satan/Lucifer wasn't human, and doesn't have a birthday.

I was surprised to read that Jewish teachers were telling the preschoolers that Halloween was a Christian holiday.
I remember that the Jewish families in the neighborhood where I grew up didn't put up Christmas lights. But on Halloween, their kids went around trick-or-treating just like the rest of us. It was just a fun holiday for kids that everybody could enjoy.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Lucifer, the fallen angel, would be a part of the creation story, and the Old Testament that Jewish families could incorporate into their explanation of Halloween. Granted, with my son I didn't get into a deep theology lesson.

My main goal was to correct his misunderstanding. And I wonder if other children have been taught that Halloween is Satan's birthday. This is false. And I would hate to think of parents LYING to their children, IF they know better.

[Willie Green]

Wow, that's almost enough to build a suicide bomb belt, or to sponsor a dozen Palestinian children for a month of jihad summer camp training.

Yeah, that "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" must've been a girl thing.
As I remember, when us guys outgrew the costume phase, we became more interested in mischievous (but harmless) pranks.

[Willie Green]

And I wonder if other children have been taught that Halloween is Satan's birthday. This is false.

I was channel-surfin' through the History Channel a couple days ago and caught a brief explanation that the actual origin has something to do with the ancient Druids in England. Late in the Fall, they apparently carried offerings of sweets and such to the outskirts of the village to keep the dead from rising up out of their graves and causing a big ruckus in the town. Something like that, anyway...

[Beach_Babe]

I live in a very rural area and get no trick-or-treaters!

Luckily, the area has some events for the children. On Thursday I took my seven-year-old grandson to the Halloween Festival at Silver Springs Nature Park. They had games for the kids, magic shows, and the greatest monster maze.

Last night we went to the local mall which has a special Halloween event each year. There were hundreds and hundreds of costumed kids and adults ... it was one great big party and we had a blast!

My late husband was a law enforcement officer and we dressed my grandson in some of grandpop's uniform. He wore the hat, which was too big, had a real badge, nightstick, handcuffs, and carried a summons book. He was so cute!

[Salman]

I'm Jewish and we never did Halloween when I was a kid. Nor do I do it now. Jewish kids get to dress up on Purim. Am I going into conniptions because my next-door neighbor's kids don't do that?

What's the big deal? It was never an "issue", we just didn't do it. I guess everything is an "issue" now.

[Willie Green]

about 20 halloweeners all told. bout what we usually get.

Only 20??? That's not very many.
I've never kept an exact count, but I'd guess that I'm more accustomed to maybe 50~75. Especially considering that sometimes you get 5 or 6 in one group. Last night was really dismally disappointing.

[gingerky]

Thanks for posting this article. The writer nailed it about kid's sports. Adults have ruined the whole experience. I have had other moms at games tell me that "daddy and junior" rehash the game and the plays all the way home and "junior" ends up crying. I always wonder silently why the kid would ever want to play with that kind of pressure. The weird part is I usually know the dads and they sure weren't superstars themselves. Adults behavior seems to be worse with baseball and basketball. We just finished junior-pro football and it was a wonderful season.

[Willie Green]

What's the big deal? It was never an "issue", we just didn't do it. I guess everything is an "issue" now.

Well I suppose that coercive uniformity is the ultimate goal of political correctness.
Either EVERYBODY has to do it, or NOBODY is permitted.
Can't allow people the freedom to do their own thing, don't ya know?!?

[YankeeReb]

Excellent article, and so true. IMHO One reason for the lack of freedom to be kids, is that there's no longer a parent, and neighbors home during the day. I know when I was growing up my mom was home for the most part, as were most of my friends mothers as well as neighbors. Even though we were made to "go outside and get some fresh air" our parents knew that wherever we went there was someone we knew close by (whether or not we kids realized it). Nowadays where it takes 2 incomes to get by , or worse you're a single parent and have to work insane hours just to get by it's not safe to let your kids out "unsupervised".

[BookmanTheJanitor]

Not here is South Orange County, CA. We live in a community filled with small kids and they were out in full force. I think after some of our recent disasters (the fires, Gray Davis), everybody wanted to go out and have some fun. We ran out of candy and I had to run to the store for more and got to cross the picket line again (an added fun bonus).

The streets were filled with kids, the costumes were cute, and the kids were well-mannered. About an hour after the last kid came by, it started to rain hard (yeah, help w/ the fires). It was a good night.

[RippleFire]

For older kids, trick or treating for UNICEF was the only way to go. Today, kids can't wait to slough off childhood when it comes to music, clothing and sexuality but seem to trick-or-treat well into their college years. Baby boomer kids would have been humiliated to be found trick-or-treating in their teens. Collecting hundreds of dollars for UNICEF, teenagers felt grown-up and useful. Trading in your candy bag for a UNICEF box was a rite of passage.

I must have lead a sheltered childhood.