Anyhow, because I’m now in my 50s, I get to use such phrases as “when I was younger” and “kids these days” suggesting my superior, more difficult or just better upbringing. And so, “when I was younger” my brothers and I never went trick or treating. Well, we did. We just never went trick or treating for ourselves, for candy. We went trick or treating for UNICEF. (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).
Every Halloween we would go house to house with our little orange boxes shouting “trick or treat for UNICEF.” People would put some change, or the occasional dollar, in our orange boxes. At nearly every house the homeowner would want to also give us some candy, but my dad would wave his hand from side to side, giving a clear “no” sign, much to my disappointment.
My parents were trying to instill a sense of doing something for someone else. Of giving without receiving anything in return. Lots of references of that in the Bible and my parents were/are pretty conservative Catholics. As a young kid I always wanted the candy more than I got any sense of helping out poor and hungry children by collecting change every Halloween. Besides, my parents called Halloween “Beggars’ Night.” I never asked why they had such a disparaging view of kids collecting candy every October 31st. Or, maybe they only didn’t want us to do so, to use that time more wisely, for someone else.
Part of that stuck because my six-year-old gets the orange UNICEF box from church every year and fills it with change (mainly donations from his parents but recently from his own savings). And, he goes trick or treating, for candy. This year he is going as Darth Vader.
Happy Halloween!
All Hallows Eve is known as a pagan tradition where they practice their beliefs. Until the 19th Century it came to the American States through Irish and Scottish immigrants. In Ireland, mumming was the practice of putting on costumes, going door-to-door and singing songs to the dead. Cakes were given as payments. Halloween pranks was apart of their tradition too. Tricks that were done was always blamed on fairies.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a Christianity household my mother would always tell me “ this is just another day that our Heavenly Father has made..” so that meant no trick-or-treating for me. So instead of going out with the kids in the neighborhood we went to church. As a kid I didn’t want to go to church, I wanted to be out with my friends having fun. Now that I’m older I still don’t go out. I just sit home order some take-out and watch scary movies all night. When I have kids I will give them the option of going trick-or-treating or hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.
Your reply expresses my beliefs as well. I think that we as humans were created with a liberty such as free choice. I have believed that Halloween is pagan, I have also believed that Halloween is what you make of it. As a child, I just simply saw it as a day were, we got to dress up and be something imaginative. We also got to reap the benefits of getting candy. I like that you said that you are going to give your children the freedom to choose whether to be the giver of the receiver. It is important that we give our children some type of say so in their lives. The decision to participate in Halloween or to not participate is one I feel that a child will appreciate when they get older. Parents tend to try to force their beliefs upon their children, but I really loved that you will let your children do just what they were created to do: have a freedom of choice
DeleteBeing from a large family, Halloween was always something my family and I looked forward to. Running through the streets dressed up and ready to eat as much candy as I could was the first thing I thought about when it came to Halloween. I have never thought of Halloween as a "Beggars' Night" but now that you mention it, it makes sense. Children all over looking for a nice piece of candy to devour and chanting trick or treat, it almost seems like they are preparing to become panhandlers. Yes there is a lot of giving involved if you are on the homeowner end of the stick, but how are parents okay with their children getting candy from complete strangers? There has been more and more cases where parents find unwanted objects and/or ingredients in their children's candy. Being 30 years old now I am getting closer to starting a family of my own, and makes me think, should I allow my children to beg for candy? Trick or treating for UNICEF sounds like a great alternative for Halloween and I think I might enforce it on my children in the future. After all, all the children in our current generation seem to be wanting instant satisfaction through the use of cell phones and tablets. The good old days of going outside with your friends to play with out worrying about who would post what almost seems like a distant memory. Trick or treating for UNICEF sounds like a great way to teach children how to have respect for other less fortunate children and also to give back. Something that seems to be long lost in our current generation.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, Halloween was one of my favorite 'holidays' as a child. My parents decorated the whole house with orange lights, fog machines, scary music etc. so my house was the place to be. I grew up in a close-knit neighborhood in Northern California where all of the neighborhood kids would go trick or treating as a huge group (think 30 or more kids) and the parents would all go to a neighborhood party together. Obviously I am a bit old to trick or treat but I've spent the last few years taking my young siblings through the neighborhood in family costumes. This year in February I moved to Houston and was very excited to hand out candy to all the kids in my neighborhood. I decorated the house just like my parents did, got costumes for myself and my dogs and I didn't get a single trick or treater. It's funny because I don't consider myself to be old but I find myself saying "when I was younger" or "back in my day" more and more. I understand the idea of doing something for someone else such as UNICEF, but I can also appreciate letting kids just be silly kids and doing something purely for the fun of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat you and your brother did in the past, when you were younger, was a beautiful act of goodness. It is extremely excited to hear a story that small kids thought and did good thing for someone else. Your parents had chosen the right way in education. They taught you a good habit, to thinking of other people before thinking for yourself. It will influence children to become a kind person in the future. It is more fascinating to know that you keep this lesson and teach your kids about it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think that Halloween was a great event for children to participate in. Although this event really looked like a “Beggar’s Night”, it was a history event that had its own values. This tradition, in the past, was an event wearing costumes to ward off demons and ghost. In present, it is an event to memorize the past, also it is a playground for children to visit their neighbors, hanging out with friends. It is a traditional event, combining different values of both history and present. Although the pranks sometimes are annoying, in general, Halloween still a great event that kids should participate in.
I am an Asian, so I did not know much about Halloween. In that day, I was surprised when I was hanging out with my friend, as many houses was decorated lovely. Children walked in the street with many different kinds of costume, brought many boxes full of candy. It was an outstanding experience, both in tradition and culture.
Halloween began as the festival of Samhain. It was part of the ancient Celtic religion in Britain and other parts of Europe. At the end of summer, the Celts thought the barrier between our world and the world of ghosts and spirits got thin. This meant weird creatures with strange powers could wander about on Earth. The Celts had a big party. It was all about scaring away the ghosts and spirits. Later, with the Christian religion, the day became known as All Hallows' Eve - the day before All Saints' Day on 1 November. It's in America that Halloween has really taken off. Irish immigrants to the United States raised the popularity of Halloween during the 19th century. During the 20th century it became more and more popular, with traditions like pumpkin carving and trick or treating becoming part of TV shows, books and movies. In your case it has the same tradition for many years but with a twist. You took this once a year holiday as a way instead of a regular one into a chance to help other kids who don’t have the opportunity to have a great and are in poverty. This was a good change to think about others instead of getting candy for yourself.
ReplyDeleteI relate to this post a lot. My parents used to do a variation of what you do with your son. We would get to trick or treat and get all the candy we wanted. But when we got home, we had to give all of our candy to our parents and they split it in half. Half of the candy we got to keep, and the other half went to local families we knew that weren’t able to afford candy or go trick or treating. As a kid I used to hate giving away half of my candy, but now that I’m older I’ve realized that my parents were showing me how to be a good person and share what we have. It didn’t make me feel good at the time, because it’s hard for kids to understand, but as we get older we see that s giving without expecting anything in return can be the mark of a good person. It’s something that I will definitely have my kids do, to teach them how to help others because you never know if it might be you needing help one day.
ReplyDeleteI would like to say that I an surprised by this post, but I really am not. I heard that parents from the 50's-60's were more strict since and I heard many stories about how strict they would be. Another reason I am not that surprised is because just how conservative the time period was, ranging from the dress codes to the roles of men and women. So, it makes sense that equally as strict parents would be around for those times.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me more thankful for my parents who enjoy Halloween just as much as I do. I do not care much for the candy or trick-or-treating since I outgrew that, but my love for costumes and dressing up has died. I still go all out with my costumes, even though it is a bit expensive, my satisfaction of knowing I have a really good costume that I can show off is worth it. The only similarity is my parents do not like going to the "rich" neighborhoods too since they feel like it is just begging at that point. Also, since I do not love getting large amounts of candy anymore, I will take the idea of going around with a UNICEF box while my little siblings get candy.
Halloween night for me has always been an exciting night where I get to dress up as whoever or whatever I wanted and went candy hunting with my sister. I’ve never used that night as a way to give back to people who need it but reading this blog makes me want to start. I have 3 younger siblings that I can start this activity with. I can give them the same lesson that your parents did while also having some fun! Life is all about starting new things and this is definitely a new tradition I would like to instill on my family. I think it’s an awesome way to teach the little ones how to give back and not expect anything in return. They are very privileged, so they don’t know the feeling of having to want for anything, this will teach them how to be grateful and giving. They can of course still get candy if they want!
ReplyDeleteHalloween for my family and I was never a big deal. As a child, I would go trick-or-treating with my brother and cousins. They would say “trick-or-treat!”, while I would stay quiet. I was an extremely shy child, and refused to speak to people I didn’t know. It gave me discomfort talking to someone I didn’t know, and sort of frightened me. I would simply just stick my bag or bucket out for candy, which seems a bit rude to come to think of it. Being raised as a Roman Catholic, I was always told to help the less fortunate, especially around Christmas, but not around Halloween. Halloween was seen as a child’s day to just walk around and “beg” for candy. I believe my family didn’t consider it a big deal, because there were many families that didn’t celebrate it. It was just seen a regular day. As I’ve grown older, October 31st has simply been a regular day, that has very little meaning. I believe if you were to give a meaning to the holiday as your family did. Maybe my family would have participate a bit more. As it would have taught us more about learning to help others more often, rather than on major holidays like Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid my parents never had a problem with us trick-or-treating or celebrating halloween itself. My parents were religious but never forced us to follow their beliefs at a young age. I did have friends that weren't allowed to celebrate halloween and I used to think "why are parents so strict that they cant let their own kids celebrate halloween with the rest of the children". I then asked my friend who had never gone trick-or-treating why she wasn't allowed to go and she answered back that her religion doesn't allow her to. There is some religions that don't allow the celebration of halloween and in my friends case she said if they celebrated this tradition was like celebrating the devil. I believe that it is fine having different beliefs but i don't agree that parents should cut back on traditions that are widely celebrated and that will take away from the kids childhood. Kids are meant to have fun and at a young age their minds are so innocent that they don't really care about religions or other things grown ups worry about this is why me belief is that all kids should be allowed to celebrate holidays with the rest of the children because after all they are young and they deserve to have a good childhood.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, we would sometimes celebrate Halloween but, when I turned 8 years old my parents turned to Christianity so, after that we did not celebrate it anymore. I never really was a fan of Halloween so when we stopped dressing up, I did not mind. I never asked my parents why we stopped celebrating it but, over the years I heard that Halloween was and is a pagan tradition, so I understood why it was that we stopped celebrating it. Many people have different point of views on Halloween, but what you did with your brothers was a really kind thing to do, your parents taught you to put others first and to be unselfish and now you are passing on that same lesson to your child. Although it was a kind gesture, I still believe Halloween is something deeper than just the candy and the dressing up, some people just ignore it to pleasure themselves.
ReplyDeleteMany times, I have seen the chant, “trick or treat”, at play only in scary, Halloween movies. This is because I have never and still do not celebrate Halloween. I was raised in a Christian household and was always told it was the, “devils’ day.” I would ask my parents why they would say such thing. Their response would always be, because people come out to worship the dead and demons and evil spirits roam around the streets. In other words, bad deeds occurred on Halloween night. I believe that as we grow older, we pick up similar practices that our parents once did with us. For instance, I really do not care much about Halloween and would prefer my children to follow my steps in the future in which they will not celebrate Halloween. However, I will not respond to their questions with the answer my parents would give me, but rather seek a biblical reason. For example, Ephesians 5:7-12, which states to be the light in the darkness. Till this day I still do not know the true reasons why my parents have never allowed my siblings and I to celebrate Halloween. As curious as I am, I would eventually like to know, so that is why I will respond to my children’s questions about Halloween, in the near future, with evidence.
ReplyDeleteI have been here almost 5 years and I haven’t gotten any chance to go out for trick or treat game in Halloween night yet. I scared Halloween night actually when people go out with their weird and scary costume like monster or demon and prank on people in the street, that totally makes me want to stay home. But as a mother, I want my kid enjoy whatever kid is supposed to have to fill full them with all nice and unforgettable moment childhood. I also want to teach them how to give without receiving anything back because we are Catholic. I love the idea UNICEF trick or treat to collect and donate some for children in need. It will teach my kid how to share and care the others with charity. For me, I will one year with normal Halloween for kid to do silly things when kid love and dare to do it, and next year will for UNICEF. One more thing, I want my kid costume all Saints or angles who are in heaven, not in the hell or scary movies, if not, I will dress for them.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is usually the kind of day that people look forward to in the last six months of the year simply because they are food filled and are days where people look to receive candy and plates on Thanksgiving and all of their wishes granted by Christmas. Usually I would indulge in these activities, but as I grow older I understand the value of these events and I find myself giving than I do taking. I feel much more satisfied knowing that I made a kids night by handing over a handful of candy on Halloween or making a dish on thanksgiving and being more productive. Making this world a better place is something that a lot of people can work together as a whole. Just like the other day I saw a child trick or treating on the news and he came across a house that was fresh out of candy and he proceeds to empty his bag full of candy so that the next kid has something to munch on. Then there is this blog gives me a big impression on the kind of staff that this institute has. They offer help to students and actually listen to you and quite fun to be around in class.
ReplyDeleteBeggars Night that is too funny to me. Halloween has always been the same for me. Since I was a child I had the choice to dress up and go out trick or treating with my parents as a child and then my friends as I got older. With my own children I give them the choice to dress up if they want to or not but they do not have the choice to go out trick or treating with their friends. Times are different now. Although they are 15 and 12 I still do not trust them to be out alone walking the neighborhood. I know because of people’s religion many children do not get the choice of going out and dressing up on Halloween. I also see that a lot of churches are participating in trunk or treat and have fall festivals for the children to have fun and participate in the holiday.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a day that most kids want to spend getting as much candy as possible, but for me it was just a normal day, because of my religion I was not able to celebrate hallowed and for me as I was growing up it never made sense to me what the people were celebrating hallowed for. It is just does not make sense for me. But I can see how your parents used it to show you a very important lesson that shows you to also care for others. Halloween can be a fun activity for the kids and it’s a good way to get them out of the house for a while. But as I stated before I feel like hallowed is not really a safe thing to do. As you said hallowed used to be different and kids used to threaten the adult if they did not give them candy. But now there are adult that may poison the candy. Overall hallowed has a different meaning for other people based on their religion.
ReplyDeleteBeggars Night? well, that's pretty clever.I have never done too much on Halloween even when I was younger I still did not do much.However my mother always tried to make it special for my brother and I by either doing something with friends or even just taking us trick or treating.I do think it gets harder to go out because the world is changing and so are peoples views which is to be expected of course.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the orange UNICEF donation bag. I think it’s a lovely idea, but I still wish you were able to experience trick or treating as a child. Parents do know best, though, so maybe depriving you and your brother from the Halloween festivities made you more mature and thankful than then the other children running around in their costumes demanding candy. Some of my favorite memories growing up in a small farm town in the Midwest circulated around Halloween nights. It was not like Houston; children were able to roam free house to house around the neighborhood without adults present because the town was about as Hallmark safe as you can imagine. I felt deprived though at the time because, due to the cold northern weather, my parents made me wear a winter coat and snow boots. I was upset because I wanted the neighborhood residents to see my costume. Now that we are into adulthood, we can see why our parents made us do those things. Even though at the time we believed it to be cruel, now we realize they did it for our own good. I will keep an eye out next year for the orange donation bags so I can help contribute. Hopefully, I spot one while I hand out candy.
ReplyDeleteCelebrating Halloween has always been a contentious issue in my household because, from my background, I consider it out of line with my religious belief. Because of this, every year it comes up, I will have a long debate with my kids on whether they should participate in “trick or treat” or not, the conclusion will, however, be a No for an answer from me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it will be nice to caption it “Beggars’ Night”. This will enable the participating kids to raise money for a worthy cause. In so doing, they will learn to be helpful to the community and not be selfish because asking for candy will only make kids think of themselves and what they will get. Moreover, too much candy has its own health hazards. It should also be a day to remember less privileged kids who cannot participate because of one issue or the other. This will help nurture more responsible adults as they grow up.
Like you, I also appreciate UNICEF's use of the holiday for a meaningful cause. It is important for adults to understand that we can shape our cultural preferences, including religion, to include principles that we want to pass on to children without having to exclude them from pagan traditions; such is the case of Halloween. If people give Halloween the meaning of caring and giving, it no longer is about celebrating spirits or evil. Instead, it can be a tradition that kids of all religious background can enjoy with the meaningful purpose of sharing while being part of a cultural tradition in their society.
DeleteHalloween has been a off/on subject in my house, for as long as I can remember. Some years my mother would have no problem letting me go "trick-or-treat." Other years, she would insist we stay home because she was convinced it was a holiday to honor the devil. As a child, I never understood why she would change her mind that quickly. Now, I realize it was not her own beliefs but those of my extremely conservative aunt instead. She was convincing my mother to prohibit us from engaging in what she called "libertine nonsense." That is not true of course. Halloween is neither libertine nor harmful. It is simply a holiday with pagan origins intended to be fun, filled with candy and the laughter of children. It is important to take precautions when going on the search for candy; some of the candy may not be safe to consume, and households giving it may look sketchy. The less fortunate should also be remembered. If there are children that cannot get candy because of any economic aspect, it would be a great gesture to share candy with them. After all, holidays are all about showing solidarity with our peers.
ReplyDeleteI also grew up in a family that didn't celebrate Halloween because it was a pagan holiday. However, when my sister, brother and I became teenagers, we were able to convince our parents that the Holiday was not about Hollow's Eve but more about getting together with friends and participating in a social event. We were tired of feeling excluded. I must have gone trick or treating only a couple of times after that before I got bored of doing it.
DeleteAs an adult, I have been to a few parties and have put together pretty cool costumes but I've also have gotten bored of that. I like that Professor Ross-Nazal shared with us his personal Halloween experience of raising money for meaningful causes. This gives the holiday a new meaning for me that relates to things that I am currently interested on.
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ReplyDeleteCourtney Girgin History 1301
ReplyDeleteOnce everyone hits a certain age, we all use the phrase "When I was younger". Even at the age, I am now, which is still considered young, I use this phrase all the time. When I read how your parents called Halloween 'beggers night', I thought about when I was younger and how true it could be. The very first Halloween I can remember was when I was 5 years old. My parents were poor and were never able to afford to buy unnecessary things like candy for us. My mom thought it would be funny to dress my 2-year-old brother up in one of my dresses and make his hair and makeup like a girl. She painted my face like a cat. Every door we went to, the people would compliment How beautiful my brother was, thinking she was a girl. My brother would always get more candy than me and I didn't understand why. I would always leave each person's door saying "She's my brother". This left a huge confusing expression on everyone's face. Once we got home, my brother had 3 times more candy than me. I never forgot the comment my mother made "Cuter girls get more candy". Now that I'm older and have a daughter of my own, I let her experience the Halloween holiday. I choose to do it so she can have the same experience I did, even if we do not need the candy. Next year, I think we will do the Trick or Treat for UNICEF.
Holiday Traditions Can Have a Greater Impact in Societies
ReplyDeletethan Just the Preservation of Culture. Traditions help to maintain societies’ cultural identities. Because culture is alive and constantly changing, so are the Holidays and Americans must use this cultural phenomenon to cultivate a culture of caring and giving.
Originally, Halloween was a pagan tradition taken by the Catholics to celebrate the evening of all saints or All Hollow’s Eve. During the 17th century, the tradition was brought to America by Irish and Scottish immigrants. Back then, families would get together with their neighbors and friends to celebrate this tradition from the old land. Because it was originally a celebration of spirits, people made it spooky by telling scary stories seating around bonfires and playing pranks on each other for fun. Since then, Halloween has evolved tremendously until, eventually, commercialism and consumerism turned it into a tradition of best costumes and prices. Nowadays, Halloween is a holiday more celebrated by adults than children. But, nonetheless, the tradition is still alive, and we continue to cultivate it.
Halloween and other holidays can have a greater purpose than just cultivating traditions. Holidays can also cultivate a culture of caring and giving. Although I didn’t know about it until I read it in your article, I really like the program Trick or Treat for UNICEF. With only $7, UNICEF can provide safe water, food, notebooks, and blankets to children around the world. I’m sure organizations can adapt other holidays to teach about and share with people in need around the world. The Salvation Army for example uses their Christmas donations to provide Christmas meals, toys and clothing to families that struggle to make ends meet in the United States.
We live in a privileged society in which we enjoy freedom to be informed, freedom to care, and freedom to act. We must take advantage of these freedoms and become informed about the causes and effects of war conflicts in societies around the world. If we can’t physically help people living those situations, we can at least cultivate and promote a culture of global understanding, caring, and giving.
Every year on October 31^st, I would watch people trick or treating in the neighborhood. Being raised in a christian household as one of Jehovah's witnesses I learned the ancient origins of Halloween and its modern customs show to be a celebration based on false beliefs about the dead and invisible spirits or demons.The bible warns us:”there must never be anyone among you who consults ghost or spirits,or calls up on the dead”Deuteronomy 18:10-12.The origins of Halloween can be traced to this ancient pagan festival celebrated by the celtic people over 2000 years ago according to the World Book Encyclopedia .The celtic people believed that the dead could walk among the living at this time.Some celtics wore ghoulish costumes so that the wandering spirits would mistake them for one of their own and leave them alone.Often Celtics offered sweet treats to the spirits to appease them.Carved,candlelight turnips were displayed to repel evil spirits.To some the candle in the turnips represent a soul trapped in the purgatory.Later carved pumpkins were commonly used.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really interesting to me the way people schedule fun, really important also. While it’s definitely a good idea to instill morals, ethics, and all of that good stuff into a child, I don’t understand how depriving them of trick-or-treating is the way to go for that. It does achieve the goal but that same goal could also be achieved on literally any other day of the year. I am not now, and never really have been, a huge fan of Halloween, but I’m speaking for the way I might handle things with children of my own. If the purpose of the UNICEF box was secretly to allow you to indulge in the fun without accepting candy from complete strangers, then this makes sense. I think speaking hypothetically, about my future children I wouldn’t take a holiday away from them in order to teach them something like that. Doing a selfless deed isn’t something that should only be done on the holidays, but also how do you decide which holidays to take away from your children, and why on earth do it in the first place. Kids can collect for UNICEF all year around I’m sure. We all get up and go to work or go to school, and sometimes we all need a little scheduled fun.
ReplyDeleteHalloween was never a holiday that was really celebrated where I come from. In Gabon, an African country which was colonized by the French, we mostly celebrated the Feast of all Saints which is the following day. I grew up Catholic and Halloween has always been seen as a pagan holiday that should not be celebrated, it was almost seen as demonic. Later in my life, when I moved to the U.S, I found out that it was somewhat a big celebration. The first time I celebrated it was when I was in Boston. I went to the city of Salem, where the Salem witch trials took place and I loved it. In my opinion, this holiday had nothing religious in the core hence I did not find a problem to celebrate it anymore.
ReplyDeleteIt was until I moved to Houston and joined a religious cult that fortunately left, that I discovered that all the holidays the Catholic church celebrates such as Halloween, Christmas or Easter were not originally from Christianity but from other Nordic religions. For a short time, I stopped celebrating any of those holidays. However, after I left that Church, I found that any dogmatic religions are technically a cult. Nowadays, I enjoy partaking in Halloween celebrations and others.
Going around and collecting funds to help the less fortunate is indeed a great thing to do. It is known that helping people betters oneself by “actually benefiting your own mental health and wellbeing.” However, “trick or treating” is to be considered a night where kids get to dress up and have fun with their friends or family. There is always another time to help. Most kids just want to grow up having fun. Not saying if kids want to start early to help others is wrong but I am one to give a choice rather than making them do it. The “one I was younger” phrase was always one to bother me because times were different.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never heard about the UNICEF trick or treat, but it sounds like an amazing cause to help people in need. I grew up in a mostly in a lower middle class, so Halloween was a divisive holiday to participate. I remember on some years I would where the same costume from the previous year. Our family would never spend too much money on our house, so not many kids would trick or treat at our house, which you could say that’s a good situation. I also remember going out to treat or treating and getting so much candy that the candy would last for months. I think the last time I ever went trick or treating was when I was in the 7th grade, I didn’t stop enjoying going out, just that I had other thing to focus and put more time into. Me and my friends were planning to go trick or treating this year for fun, but it was so cold that we decided not to go.
ReplyDeleteI had never really heard of the trick or treat for UINCEF, but I love the idea. I don't think enough people have given themselves the opportunity to do some sort of charitable work to get an accurate sense of fulfillment that you could feel from doing so. Your parents doing so for you at such a young age might have felt like more of a chore to you, especially since they didn't let you get some candy alongside the donations, but the sheer fact that you know have children of your own practicing thing tradition really shows how well it affected you. A few of the other things that I have read by you make that much more sense knowing your selfless upbringing.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I find doing charitable work very rewarding. Volunteering to help others who are less fortunate is something I take pride in. I go in to the prison systems to encourage them, also donating any goods needed. Recently, the ministry I'm apart of was able to go and pack breakfast bags for families in need. Not only was it rewarding but we had such a great time doing it. I truly enjoy being able to make a difference, even if small, in the lives of others. I encourage others to do it too.
DeleteTrick or treating for UNICEF sounds new to me, but I like the positive movement and thought behind this foundation and the fact that your parents instilled morals and virtues in you young boys early on. I still find it pretty strict that your parents didn't allow "you hard-working boys" to at least have a piece of candy, but I guess in those days things were a little different compared to today's children.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I like the fact that you let your son dress up and enjoy the American tradition of Trick or Treating!
Although a few people might have negative views on Halloween, many others see the holiday as a time of ‘escape’ or yet another reason to see family again. I was raised more as a liberal catholic, in that we didn’t really constrain ourselves by our own personal beliefs or religion. My family is probably just like most when it comes to holidays or celebrations; we make it a thing to get everyone together and we all go trick or treating as a family or pass out candy while indulging in family games. For example, this year my extended and immediate family travelled to my uncle’s house (my mother’s oldest brother) and everyone decided whether they wanted to stay at the house passing out candy to trick or treaters or do the actual trick or treating. We all share the same belief in the holy trinity being one god, but we also help ourselves to the advantages of meeting our neighbors and the act of receiving and giving to others in the community, even if it’s through something as small as candy. However, the donation boxes do interest me enough to start coming up with ideas for next years’ Halloween. I do think it is a thoughtful and generous idea to collect money for those who do not have the same privileges and to pass that same grace to the youth.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of UNICEF but trick or treating to help others in need is a kind, selfless act and that is so awesome. Since I was a child, Halloween has been a holiday that scares me. I tickle myself when I think of how scary I am, even as an adult. I don’t know what it is about clowns, but they terrify me. I remember a night out with friends at Astroworld on Halloween night. There was a haunted house there they’d have each year during Halloween. This night, in particular, one of the many clowns there, scared me so much that I punched him and immediately ran out of the exit gate crying. I still can’t believe I did that. I did apologize though. The idea of being able to load up on tons of candy that mom would keep hidden once brought home was something my sister and I would look forward to on the night of Halloween. We didn’t dress up much as children, due to financial reasons, but a sheet, scissors and markers always did the trick! I do enjoy seeing pictures of all the costumes on Halloween in the spirit of fun.
ReplyDeleteTrick or treating for UNICEF is something that i have not heard before, it sounds really interesting and well we learn things every day. UNICEF is something that i will look into because it helps people for a greater cause. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because on October they start putting scary movies the whole month. Every person views Halloween different because of their culture or the way that they were raised. There are people that think that Halloween is when the devil comes out and some just take their kids to get candy. The way we celebrate October 31'st is we wait till 6 in the afternoon, we go outside and we turn on our decorations, we sit and put scary music and we wait for the kids or adult's to come. The phrase “Trick or Treating” means different to everyone because as I grew up and experience to go house to house to ask for candy there was people who asked me to show them a trick to get a treat or in return giving me money.
ReplyDeleteTrick or treating for UNICEF sounds like a good plan for me though I have never participated or heard of something like that. Besides UNICEF trick or treating, the general trick or treat custom can be seen in different ways. Nowadays, kids are known as an active members for trick or treat custom which help them to engaged more with other people living in a society or in a neighborhood. Every October 31, trick or treats helps kid to get involved with other kids and share their happiness. Whereas there are many people in our society who severely misuse the concepts of trick or treat and benefits from the Halloween costumes and masks which leads to violence,robbery or crime in general. Trick or Treat is a good way to teach kids to share happiness with each others and motivate them to be friendly and to know new people living around us. Lastly, I hope your son had fun being Darth Vader and also contributed towards betterment of humanity by supporting UNICEF.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a worldwide holiday for many people. Although some people may think that day is to worship the devil others celebrate by going out trick o treating. For example, me as a child was prohibited from celebrating due to my religion. I was not aloud to go out and “beg” for candy neither dress up. I believe a kid’s weakness is a candy, now imagine having a bag full of candies, that would be like heaven for them. It was sad for me to see other kids dress up as their favorite character and go out with other children around the block to collect candy. Now that I am married and have a one year old, my partner who does celebrate Halloween came to an agreement to not forbid our son from this tradition. This was my first year celebrating this holiday and seeing the excitement on my sons face while going around and asking for candy was the best. Even though my parents still don’t agree with us celebrating Halloween I am looking forward for next years celebration. I will continue to dress him up and take him trick o treating every year.
ReplyDeleteAs weird as it may sound, growing up I was not much of a Halloween person. The only thing I would enjoy was the dressing up part, but I always thought it was something we could do any other day. First, I remember having to wear a costume that was either too itchy, too tight, too heavy, or just plain uncomfortable. Second, I would only like chocolate but only your basic Hershey’s, snickers, and Twix so I thought why not just buy me a bag of one of those and call it a day? Third, I hated having to walk in the dark where if you weren’t careful you could get lost or scared by someone else! Fourth, I felt weird having to knock on a stranger's door to ask for candy. Now it’s different, I enjoy Halloween and seeing my nieces and nephews all dressed up and saying the famous “trick or treat.” I think my problem was and still is that I’m an over thinker, I cannot ever take things lightly and fun as others do.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Halloween as a day people used to collect donations. It is a smart idea since people are already going to be outside handing out candy, but I don’t agree with a child being denied participating in the collection of candy while collecting money for the UNICEF. I do not go to church and that affects my point of view, but I acknowledge that everyone has their own way of celebrating, or not celebrating, Halloween.
ReplyDeleteAs an adult, I can’t recall doing anything that does not include personal gain – even if what I gain is simply personal satisfaction. I cannot imagine myself depriving my children of something they view as fun just because I want them to learn a lesson. If I did ask them to collect donations for a cause, such as UNICEF, I would not want them to associate something negative with the collecting of donations. I would allow my children to collect donations and candy. They can have fun while also learning about helping others who are in need.
I find this post a bit relatable, I am from a strong christain household where Halloween was frowned upon in fact it was called “Devils Night” or the “Devil's Birthday” as a child if me and my brothers were lucky enough to have my mom at work that night my father would let use go out trick or treating for the sake of fitting into society norms we just had to be back before our mother if not we usually spent it at church. Now as an adult I like to put candy out for the sake of passing it forward and my mom has finally agreed on the condition we attach scriptures to the candy working as a happy medium for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is a great idea to do during Halloween. It's always a significant step for a parent to teach their kids about helping others that are in need. Personally, my family has never celebrated Halloween; therefore, I have never been trick or treating. I did not know that there were organizations like UNICEF that kids can volunteer to go collect money for an organization so important. It is so important to give back to those who are in need. As I look more into this organization, I see that they help children from all over the world by assisting them to get the things that every child needs that we take for granted. Throughout the year, I always help out my mother at her job, where the Houston Food Bank or YMCA with different activities for the kids that are in need in the schools. It is always surprising for me to see how many kids in public schools that have little to nothing or how some of them live in shelters or go without seeing their parents throughout the days. Helping the children need is a problem that can be a few blocks away from you or can be a thousand miles away.
ReplyDeleteAs the USA progresses into, everyday more, a consumerist society, giving with out receiving is a gem. The example that your parents installed in you is a seed to being a good human. If there where no examples as such, being a good person, would simply be lost.
ReplyDeletePassing examples of being good humanitarians to the people around us helps make the world a better place. Such as your parents, to you, and you to your kid turns into a chain. A chain we need to see more of, and inspiring to do good deeds as well.
It seems that you've also found a balance more appropriate for a child. Doing something for someone else doesn't mean you don't get to have fun. I think this also reflects the growing mindset of our generations. One that says that doing a good deed shouldn't be self-sacrificing for it to be "good". Props to you.
Trick or treating for UNICLEF is something I’ve never heard before but it does catch my eye. It is definitely something I would be interested in to having my children participate in. That is more giving back instead of taking and taking. Although I must admit I think I would allow my children to also get some candy. Half and half, split it between giving back but also enjoying Halloween. These children need to understand what UNICLEF is and why they are doing this on Halloween. A vast majority of children that trick or treat range anywhere from the age of 13 to about 5 months of age. They really don’t see the moral of taking candy from strangers for their selves opposed to understanding they are taking donations for hungry little children.
ReplyDeleteObviously, trick or treating for UNICEF is a very uncommon thing nowadays since most of us were clueless about this tradition. It is such a great thing to promote really instead of just encouraging kids to hoard candies and overdose on sugar. There has to be a healthy balance I agree. I guess for the next generation, we need to create better traditions that encourage giving, and attending to the needs of the community like the homeless and kids that outgrow CPS and end up with nothing. The demographic that are clearly forgotten by the city but are obviously a very big problem in any city as big as Houston.
DeleteI never really went trick or treating but I enjoyed seeing what was going on. I moved to the united states when I was eight and when I got here, the tradition seemed threatening; I was a shy kid that lived far from the school I went to. Many people would come to my house for candy but my parents kept the lights off, as if no one was home. Money was tight back then, my parents often had trouble buying candy or costumes for me. But hearing from Dr. Nazzal’s experience, kids these days aren’t doing enough for their community. Living on a low income made realize that the community isn’t really doing much, all they do is beg. In my home town, the whole street would come together to give offerings to the dead and we would give each other candy and food. And this expanded to the block, then the city. Todays society needs to closer together, this needs to become a trend. I believe that if you’re going to waste a whole day begging for things, you might as well squeeze in a little bit of time for some charitable good. Asking for donations, volunteering, helping families that you know are in need could set a trend that your children and your children’s children could follow.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is because I really haven’t experienced all of Halloween that I don’t really understand it. I never really got the chance to trick or treat selfishly or unselfishly for a good cause. My mom was, and still is, ill and we always had to take care of her because of her illness. So, we never really went out anywhere in fear of something happening to her. Before then my father wasn’t a believer of Halloween and was a very strict man. So, when I finally had the chance to go trick or treating, I didn’t really think of it as fun. I felt like I was at a point where I didn’t really like to go trick or treating anymore. I do like the fact that you were taught to give instead of receiving. I have always tried to be a person who gives without expecting much from anyone. But when I am giving and I get something in return I always stay humble and thank that person.
ReplyDeleteIm in favor of this idea to help the need , not only to be begging for free candy but helping important causes and in return feeling like you accomplished a good deed that halloween night. My family doesn't celebrate halloween the same as when i was younger , i guess we grew out of it or didn’t have much time. But i believe if kids or even adults have most of the afternoon free to be begging for candy they should at least try to help the community or important causes and donate as much as they can.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, I never had the chance to go trick or treating, not even for a donation. The most vivid memory of a Halloween night I have is when my friends were dressed up as ladybugs, princesses, and my favorite a fairy. We were at the apartment's playground telling each other scary stories before they left, they were all so happy in their costumes while I was in my regular clothes. I never got to experience the feeling of being a fairy or a princess for a night (I am literally crying right now haha.) As soon as the sun went down, their parents called over to start collecting candies. I stayed in the playground till each one of my friends had left, and when the last one had l gone away, I walked back home alone, cold and sad. The reason why my parents never let me celebrate Halloween in any way was because they were conservative Christians.
ReplyDeleteHalloween was always fun as a child my whole family would dress up, and us kids would simply knock on doors to get free candies. Growing up I knew that some of my friends were not allowed to go trick or treating due to religious reasons; in fact, one of my uncles told my father to stop taking us trick or treating because it was an unholy tradition. I have not gone in three years because honestly I don’t care for it, and I have recently discovered the origin of Halloween and I understand why my uncle said it was unholy. Although, I think that trick or treat for UNICEF is a great fundraiser, and sadly I had no clue it existed. Now that I know what it is I feel like parents might use this fundraiser as an opportunity to turn something considered evil to something positive, or just simply want to build character in their children and they want them to understand that, is better to give than receive.
ReplyDeleteHello Maria, I agree that the fundraiser is interesting and I had no knowledge of it either! I do believe that it is always a great idea to give back. Halloween has always been labeled as a celebration of the devil, in which i really never took parts of going to the extreme of celebrating the day as a big holiday like thanksgiving or christmas. Halloween has always been a day for me when you eat alot of candy in which you do throughout the year.
DeleteThis is the first time I have ever come across this idea of trick or treating for UNICEF. That is such a great cause and I applaud your parents for teaching you that it is better to participate in something that would be helpful to kids or families in need, instead of just keeping the town dentists in business. I feel that the traditions are mostly done out of that mere fact of being a tradition. I grew up in the Philippines and not once did this tradition reach our city until recently. We all prepared for All Soul's Day, wherein we celebrated our dead on the 1st of November spending the entire day and night within the cemeteries where our loved ones and ancestors are buried. Everyone celebrated by lighting candles, bringing flowers and food to share. The kids run around collecting candle wax drippings to create the biggest candle wax ball by the end of night, while the women gossip and keep everyone fed, and the dads gather to talk about business and financial matters. This is what I grew up with, no candies on the 31st; but a day of remembrance of our dead and stories told about their lives and struggles. It is similar to the day of the dead here in Houston on the 2nd of November.
ReplyDeleteTraditions that promote consumerism is becoming old news in this day and age. I feel that finding the perfect costume for Halloween is still a great and fun tradition but it has recently become another day to spend spend spend. I am hoping we all find other ways to value the best things in life, that money cannot buy and honor them with traditions that put emphasis on the human connection without breaking the bank.
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ReplyDeleteFor me, and like many other families, trick or treating was a time that allowed us to dress up, have a good scare and, my personal favorite, eat as many sweets as I would like. After a long night of walking up and down streets to hustle for the candy in my bag, I was later told by my father that the candy I ate was never the candy I received from my neighbors, it was, in fact, the store-bought candy he bought himself. Confused I asked him why and he explained, for safety purposes, my father would simply throw away any candy I had from trick or treating and replace everything with a whole new bag for fear of being poisoned or injured from a fatal prank. Like my father, I am sure many parents have had the same mentality, especially after the incident here in Houston in 1974. A man named Ronald Clark O'Bryan was in need of his son’s life insurance money, so he poisoned his son’s candy with cyanide killing his 8-year-old boy. Although this act was not done by a stranger, parents like my father decided to proceed trick or treating with caution. Other incidents include finding pins, needles, and razor blades in Halloween candy and although 95% of these incidents were hoaxes it still is of concern to many parents whose children walk these streets on Halloween night to simply ask their neighbors for candy.
ReplyDeleteHalloween for me as a kid was a very self-absorbed experience as I didn’t think about anything else other than my costume and my candy. I believe this to be true for all children as they are growing up as kids are naturally selfish within the ages 3 to 10 due to their development at this time. In the case of religion I’d also like to believe that parents are less religious these days or they have more tolerance for the holiday and they simply don’t want their children to feel left out. My mother was always the religious one so I would hear the most from her when it came to anything god-related but even then she would still allow me to participate as she knew it was innocent fun for me. With the possible conjuncture of today’s parents and how the kids of today along with UNICEF donations I believe it’s a great idea, but it would only work if there was a reward. Let’s say two kids come to the door and one has the box and the other doesn’t. The kid with the box would receive more candy while the other one would receive the normal amount. This way, there is positive reinforcement for donating and more kids would be willing to participate in the charity which ultimately will lead them to feeling fulfilled after helping others.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have ever heard about trick or treating for UNICEF. Although you might have preferred to receive candy I think what your parents were teaching you is a great lesson to keep in mind and to grow up on. I applaud you as well for keeping that tradition going as well as your six year old for not only participating in it but also donating their own money. Growin up I never really enjoyed Halloween, I was the oldest out of all of my cousins and I always felt like a parent even as a kid and felt that my job on that day was to watch over them. Now as a young adult I enjoy it because I feel like I get to be anyone I've ever wanted to be, even if that thing that I want to dress up as is unrealistic. I think Halloween is also a fun way to bring out your creativity and inner weirdo, no one seems to judge you on this one day for being wild and crazy. After reading this blog post now trick or treating for UNICEF is definitely something that I want to also get the chance to do as well as get my family and friends involved.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time hearing about trick or treating for UNICEF as well. I know being the oldest can be a chore, i was either the youngest or somewhere in the middle, so I did not have that responsibility.
DeleteAs a Jehovah's witness, I have never celebrated Halloween nor wish to celebrate Halloween. October 31st was just like every other day of the week, except every now and then some little kid wouldn't follow instructions and knock on our door expecting candy despite the fact that our porch light was turned off. My parents never called by any name, it was just a day of the week. I never felt as though I was missing out because if I wanted candy I would ask for it and sometimes I would get it and sometimes I did not. If I wanted to dress up I did, and if I wanted to hang out with my friends I did. They instilled in me a desire to be grateful for what I have and understand that others do not have as much as I do, although there was not a specific day for it. Both of them grew up in Nigeria and did not have the things that seem commonplace here and are a luxury there. I remember the trips to a Western Union kiosk where they would send money back home, and the shop owner would give my sister and me a blow pop of our choosing. As an adult, and eventually, the start of my own family hope to instill in my children the values I had growing up.
ReplyDeleteI believe that instilling a habit of charity into children at a young age will no doubt help them become kinder, more generous people. However, I could see how having to give up your Halloween candy could cause some resentment. Although my family doesn’t celebrate Halloween, on our religious holidays, my mother always made sure we were exposed and comfortable to the concept of giving to charity freely, even if it was just her giving us money for us to excitedly put into the box. One thing that I loved as a child, though, was volunteering my time in food and clothing banks. I suggest this as a good method of getting your kid to happily be active in the community and use their time towards good.
ReplyDeleteIqra Yamin
Holiday Traditions Can Have a Greater Impact in Societies than Just the Preservation of Culture. Customs help to keep up social orders' social characters. Since culture is alive and continually changing, so are the Holidays and Americans must utilize this social wonder to develop a culture of minding and giving.
ReplyDeleteInitially, Halloween was an agnostic convention taken by the Catholics to praise the night everything being equal or All Hollow's Eve. During the seventeenth century, the convention was brought to America by Irish and Scottish outsiders. In those days, families would get together with their neighbors and companions to commend this custom from the old land. Since it was initially a festival of spirits, individuals made it creepy by recounting to unnerving stories seating around blazes and pulling tricks on one another for the sake of entertainment. From that point forward, Halloween has advanced immensely until, in the long run, corporate greed and industrialism transformed it into a convention of best ensembles and costs. These days, Halloween is an occasion more celebrated by grown-ups than kids. Be that as it may, in any case, the convention is as yet alive, and we keep on developing it.
Halloween and different occasions can have a more prominent reason than simply developing conventions. Occasions can likewise develop a culture of minding and giving. In spite of the fact that I didn't think about it until I read it in your article, I truly like the program Trick or Treat for UNICEF. With just $7, UNICEF can give safe water, nourishment, journals, and covers to kids far and wide. I'm certain associations can adjust different occasions to educate about and share with individuals deprived the world over. The Salvation Army for instance utilizes their Christmas gifts to give Christmas dinners, toys and dress to families that battle to bring home the bacon in the United States.
We live in an advantaged society in which we appreciate opportunity to be educated, opportunity to mind, and opportunity to act. We should exploit these opportunities and become educated about the circumstances and end results of war clashes in social orders far and wide. In the event that we can't physically help individuals living those circumstances, we can in any event develop and advance a culture of worldwide getting, mindful, and giving.
I truly enjoyed reading your post. You were really in-depth on the history of Halloween and really knowledgeable on UNICEF. Our culture is really big about holidays and I have a few theories about why they are. I lived in a different culture for four years and learned things about behavior on holidays compared to the other culture I lived in. You mentioned that the holiday is more for adults than children themselves, you couldn't be more true. Us adult Americans work a lot with little or no vacation. Holidays give us a break to calm and relax. That's why we are happier and caring during Christmas time than any other time of the year. For other the other culture I lived in before, people do not care for holidays, because every day in their life is a holiday and they do not need to express themselves in one day when they can do it every day. This is something I cannot explain furthermore as you need to actually witness and live in it. As for UNICEF, I thought this was an amazing Idea and I did mention in my comment above that I would try it with my daughter next year. 3 years ago, when I lived in Turkey, I volunteered at UNICEF to help the Syrian refugee children. This organization is really outstanding and I would recommend anyone to help UNICEF raise money for children in need.
DeleteAs a child I was never allowed to go out for Halloween. It was never a discussion it was just understood. My mother would not even allow me to go to school on that day. She did not agree with the “Celebration” part of holidays, as the faith she was practicing (Islam) forbid it. I often felt a since of being an outcast at school during that time. I loved to hear my classmates talk about all the candy they received on Halloween night.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally became a mother, at first, I didn’t want my children going out for “trick or treating”, but for me it was for safety reasons. There was a lot going on in the news about people contaminating Halloween candy. There were stories about child molesters prying on the innocence of children. As my children got a little older peer pressure from classmates started to set in and they soon were asking if they could they go out on Halloween night. I finally gave in. With some rules of course. Even with all of the rules they still seemed to have fun.
When I look back, I know that if we had of know about UNICEF I’m sure we would have implemented that idea into their outing. I find it to be a wonderful way to give back, and also use it as an ongoing learning experience. I especially like the part about giving without receiving anything in return. This is a huge lesson I think we as a society are missing today.
After the age of 7 or so, I stopped trick or treating. For me the excitement of free candy was there, I just wasn't as enthusiastic as everyone else. Now, as i'm older the tradition is to dress up, get drunk and go party. Still I don't partake. Hearing it being called "Beggars' Night" is interesting, simply because i'd always thought of Halloween as an innocent holiday for kids. Your tradition of gathering donations for UNICEF to me, is nice. Despite the typical day of sugary gluttony, you helped others. I think that's a valuable lesson that I and many others could apply to different aspects of our own lives. I may just do the same for my future children, though i may let them get some candy as well.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a very closeted home. Sure, we were religious- Episcopal Christians to be exact- and that did influence my parents in many ways including forbidding us of having fun with our friends and cousins on that forbidden night. The only reason I ever wanted to celebrate Halloween is because the idea of dressing up with you friends and family, carving pumpkins and going out with your friends as kids really appealed to me.
ReplyDeleteAs aforementioned, I grew up in a very closed off home, never once was I allowed to celebrate the “satanic” holiday of Halloween. Even the idea of buying candy, even if it was for us, was prohibited that night. My parents would act as if we were part of the satanic panic, believing that just being associated with people who celebrate Halloween would bunch us in with the crowd and instead my father would read the bible to us… while others were out trick-or-treating.
Now that I am a bit older- certainly not in the range of going out for candy- and have a bit more freedom, Halloween doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Yes, it’s cute to see little kids dressed up as a hot dog or as the hulk, but now the idea doesn’t appeal to me. It’s just a day like any other day, albeit there’s more knocking than there usually is.
Every Halloween I have never went trick or treating due to the harm of people putting leads in candy or anything harmful to children. Instead, I go to church where they hold a festival for Halloween called Holyween. At the church, games are provided outside and inside. Outside, there are different moonwalks for the children & inside small games are held in which you receive tickets to earn a prize. The church also serves food such as nachos, hot dogs, and snowcones. The festival is held to keep children out of trouble during Halloween and to keep everyone safe. The festival provides lots of candy as well. The purpose of the festival is to give back to the community in which some children are not less fortune, therefore the church provides food, candy, and games to those who don’t have parents to take them trick or treating. The festival is very fun and the games that are provided are enjoying as well. The festival has games and prizes for children of all ages including toddlers, no one is left out.
ReplyDeleteThe very thought of calling Halloween “beggars night” sparks some interest in my wondering mind. I would have never thought to call the night beggars, but it makes so much sense. Children are going around with their Halloween buckets begging for candy. To give Halloween a nickname such as this is going too far. I think that Halloween is simply a tradition. Children are not actually begging for candy. They do not say please, they simply say “trick-or-treat”. It is a custom, not a night for begging.
ReplyDeleteI also thought about the idea of giving back on Halloween. Many people have their different opinions on Halloween. Some think it is bad while others think it is harmless. I will take the latter of those opinions. However, I do like the idea of teaching kids that it is not always about getting. I think that ushers the spirit of Christmas into a Holiday as such.
This is the first time I hear about the "trick or treat for UNICEF" box. It brings warmth to my heart hearing that a holiday that usually centers around dressing up in a costume and going out to ask strangers for candy at night can also become a day to help a charitable foundation like UNICEF. Your story although made me sort of sad. Probably because looking back at my childhood, one of my favorite times of the year was Halloween season as I could not wait to pick out a costume to wear that I could show off at school and use to trick or treat Halloween day. Now that I am older though, I can see why your parents call it “Beggars’ Night.” It does seem like an odd tradition to expect candies from strangers on a regular day of the year just because you're wearing a costume. Nonetheless, now that I’m aware of the “trick or treat for UNICEF” box I’ll make sure my younger siblings who still trick or treat carry a box themselves next Halloween. Unlike the luck you had as a kid, I’ll let them carry their candy buckets too!
ReplyDeleteMy siblings and I were taken trick or treating, almost every year, until I reached fifth grade. My mother suddenly became paranoid that year to the possibility that one of us could have received candy that was poisoned. I never understood where she was coming from and I thought she was being overdramatic. I was clearly only concerned about receiving candy from strangers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I reached high school, I began trick or treating again with my friends. We were never the type of kids to go to parties and get drunk on Halloween night. Trick or treating became a tradition to go with one another every year throughout high school. This year was our first year where we were not able to go, because school and work kept us all busy.
As weird as it sounds Halloween means a lot to my friends and I. Hopefully next Halloween is different to keep our tradition alive.
I have to say out of all the holidays in the year Halloween is by far my favorite knowing that I could dress up in my awesome costume and receive free candy just by saying “Trick or Treat”. I would always participate with my siblings and collect a ton of candy so we could enjoy them while watching scary movies. My parents in the other hand wouldn't say nice things about Halloween because they referred it as the "Devil's Day" meaning bad things would happen. They believed violence would occur, kidnapping, and believing people harm the candy they give out to the kids. Hearing about your experience and about the UNICEF is interesting since I didn’t think I could give back to others on a spooky holiday. Your parents taught you a very important lesson about sharing, kindness, and being grateful of what you have because others aren’t so lucky. I will for now on see Halloween as another holiday to give back to others and will act differently since I love helping others.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, I always looked forward to Halloween, it was exciting and I loved dressing up until eventually, I grew older and stopped doing that. Begging for candy has always seen as something normal and still to this day to me, I never saw it as problematic, but I do see the concern most parents have. At some point along the way, it has become something to be worried about since you can’t really trust strangers, But with the right precautions, it can be safe and fun.
ReplyDeleteI love Halloween, it has always been one of my favorite holidays because for a day I could pretend to be someone else. Its nice to get a break from reality occasionally, and have fun, but knowing that there are many others like yourself who are gathering money for a good cause makes me feel guilty. I always go trick or treating and attend family parties, where we have dance offs, karaoke, costume contests and of course food. I have to admit though I've honestly never heard of UNICEF but I'm glad that it exists, and that its helping people. I do like to make donations at times, so I might just get a box and help out.
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