Are Halloween parties a false sense of security over house-to-house tricks or treating?
From the time I was a boy, Halloween seem to have taken a big swing from the joy it once was. Now it seems that people try to structure Halloween into sanitized activities, or parties. More than a few people I hear say they were planning to go to parties or structured event over going street to street for tricks or treats because it was safer on top of them not wanting to do all that walking. When I was a kid you could get candy or treats, and treats you could never get these days for a million dollars, from nearly every house in the neighborhood. Then because of certain incidences people started getting scared of the candy and certainly any fruit (ironic when it is healthier than the candy). They figured at parties there is less chance to getting any candy that was messed with. Is it really safer? With all those activities going on unless they have a studious gear guard watching the snacks and such, someone could easily and quickly drop something in the punch, spray on the food, etc and make a lot of people very sick; and it would be hard pressed to detect who did it? If they had cameras how better would that be, even if you determined who did it? If it is an open party as many were around here, where the neighborhood was invited, if you seen Chubaka lace the punch it is of no use unless someone knew who was in the Wookie suit. If you got bad candy going house to house, you can figure which house you got it at if you play attention, not every house will be passing out the same type of candy. Sanitized parties for Halloween may seem save but if someone was really bent on ruining the fun, they could not be stopped any better, they may even be able to hide more effectively though.
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Seriously, what point are you trying to make here? I think some people give out candy, and some folks who like to dress up go to parties where other people dress up. I am not understanding the safety issue you bring up.
I think it’s that parties aren’t safer than wandering door to door despite what some people think. And I agree; they aren’t.
I’m not a big Halloween fan. I hated having to take my kids from house to house and pay for costumes that no one ever saw because it was too cold outside. Someone always got sick and it seemed that half of the times I took them out, it was cold and rainy.
I liked it better when they opted to go to a friends party. At least I didn’t feel I wasted money on a costume that no one saw, and I could just drop them off and pick them up. There was also the problem of who stayed home to give out candy and who took the kids out. After a long days work, it just seemed too much a bother. It was fun the first few years but then it got old quick. Both as a parent and as a kid.
This Halloween I spent 90 bucks on candy and out of about 100 kids, maybe half said thank you, and out of that ¼ had to be reminded by the parents. I’m not counting the scared babies that where out for the first time. These where kids that were 8–12.
Strangers are sitting on their porch (and yes it was drizzling the whole time) for almost 2 hours to give out candy and so the least they can do is say thank you.
Next year I am keeping the lights off and not answering the door.
Stories about contaminated Halloween treats are just a contemporary legend, spread by word of mouth, with little to support it. If you are really worried about kid’s safety then you can advise them to stay in your neighborhood. Receiving candy from people known to you cuts down on the risk of getting harmful candy. Throw away any candy that is not completely sealed.
Trick-or-treating is really a child’s activity. Do 10-year-olds really attend Halloween parties? And do older teens and adults go to Halloween parties for candy? Probably not.
I’ve never really been into Halloween, but I don’t think a feeling of safety has anything to do with why people go to Halloween parties. I think that, once you’re too old to go trick-or-treating, you have fun by attending a party instead. And for teens on up, I think alcohol is more alluring than candy bars. I don’t think candy could even be found at the parties I’ve attended.
Sidebar: What is the difference between candy and a treat? Forgive my ignorance, but is candy not a treat?
Yes, parents worry about the candy too much. However, no, it would not be easy to keep track of which candy came from which house. If someone is going to put something in the candy, they’re going to give out the inconspicuous stuff like fun sized candy bars or pixie sticks (actual case of child murder with cyanide) that many people will be handing out. It’s not safer to get candy at a party but, like I said, I don’t think the people at parties are there for the Snickers.
What @Smitha said. I don’t think poisoned candy or apples with razor blades hidden inside is all that real. Maybe there have been some few incidents, you never know…but my guess is, someone who’s nuts enough to go to the trouble of poisoning candy and wanting to harm kids probably doesn’t reserve such sordid desires to one day a year.
If I had kids and I was concerned about safety when it comes to trick or treating, I would be more worried about people stealing their candy bags, traffic, and shitty weather. But not the treats themselves, although yet again as the user I quoted, unsealed candy would be disposed of, and fruit would be removed. In case I’m totally wrong and everyone in my neighborhood is some kind of jackass.
But you might have a point, either way. Whether or not candy poisoning is true, an alternative to the celebration of Halloween may be an option chosen due to the perceived dangers of the original tradition. except in such cases, I would put it more towards people not being interested in trick or treating, kids getting too old, wanting to do something different, weather being shitty, living in a small neighborhood where the tradition is not very active, and whatnot. Halloween may have been bastardized by many who do not approve of it, but where it is celebrated, it is generally accepted, so the whole thing about security doesn’t quite strike me as the actual intent and reason.
I think the parties are practical if the weather is extreme. As far as safety, I don’t think Halloween is unsafe. Poison and razorblades in candy and apples are urban legends as someone else mentioned. In many FL malls they do trick or treat, and it is fun to see massive amounts of kids and parents in the mall. But, the neighborhood trick or treating is the tradition and I think it can be really great, I hate to see it completely dissappear. Although, as a kid I was not very into Halloween I have to admit.
A friend of mine posted on facebook asking what people want to do if the weather is terrible. Very cold and rainy. Some people said let the kids trick or treat in the cold rain. Some said postpone for the weekend. Her community still does trick or treat in the neighborhood it seems.
There has been talk at times of moving trick or treat to Saturday, instead of the 31st. Similar to how we have moved holidays to Monday.
Just for the record, as has been mentioned, random poisonings/hidden razorblades/etc have essentially never happened. While Halloween poisonings have happened, there has never been a case of a random one, they’ve always been premeditated. And many times they attempted to piggyback on already established poison urban legends, such as a famous cyanide case mentioned above, to try and obscure the real motive. So in a way these unsubstantiated rumors are the real killer. Source
@livelaughlove21 Sidebar: What is the difference between candy and a treat? Forgive my ignorance, but is candy not a treat?
Weeeeellll…..I guess it depends on how far back one goes, and maybe where one was at. Once upon a time, there were way more treats for Halloween than candy. At Halloween parties a treat can be Ricekrispy squares, a fountain of chocolate, a meat and cheese tray, other types of refreshments.
@Symbeline I don’t think poisoned candy or apples with razor blades hidden inside is all that real. Maybe there have been some few incidents, you never know…but my guess is, someone who’s nuts enough to go to the trouble of poisoning candy and wanting to harm kids probably doesn’t reserve such sordid desires to one day a year.
It may seem like urban legend now, because the last incident I remember reading in the local news about it was some 44 years ago. You would not have had an incident of that nature in the last quarter century because all anyone ever gives out is candy.
But not the treats themselves, although yet again as the user I quoted, unsealed candy would be disposed of, and fruit would be removed.
That is the ironic part of it, when I was a kid I remember getting all sorts of stuff that wasn’t candy. We were kids and ignorant to what a treat it really was. There were Carmel and candy apples, walnuts, and peanuts, oranges, peanut butter and chocolate chips fresh from the oven (they were still warm in many cases), fresh buttered popcorn, real fudge and brownies, and bananas, etc. Everyone wanted the candy and we were too young to see the thought and time put in to the non-store-bought treats. It took one year of someone sticking a razor blade in some apples and the Carmel and candy apples disappeared and taking your candy to the fire station soon followed. Many of those treats were healthier than candy.
New York City open container laws decide this for me.
Though I guess I could just consider the $20 summons a fee.
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