When is a trick not a trick?

Last updated 13:38, Friday, 24 October 2008

Halloween has been around for thousands of years. In ancient times, it was a series of festivals and rituals to the cultures of the time.

Today, it is a silly and fairly harmless occasion that young children love to celebrate.

So why is it that some people do not want to celebrate Halloween? Does it matter why we celebrate Halloween? It is a fun occasion, and children love to dress up and get lots of sweeties.

But some people have problems with why we celebrate it, usually those who tend to have religious concerns. According to some, Halloween is a pagan holiday that contradicts Christianity.

While it is easy to see why Halloween has such a reputation, people who don’t like to celebrate Halloween for religious reasons are forgetting some important facts. Halloween does in fact have a religious history. It is the night before All Saint’s Day and it was believed that the dead returned to the earth on October 31.

While the religious aspect might not be why we celebrate Halloween today, it is something that should not be forgotten. Regardless of the Christian aspect, the debate over why we celebrate Halloween is likely to continue. Some children will ring doorbells once a year seeking treats and others will not be allowed to leave the house.

The reasons we celebrate Halloween are a matter of personal opinion and whether a child goes trick or treating is a personal decision. Though Halloween might have had pagan origins, it is a commercial event today. People spend a fortune on Halloween every year on sweets, costumes or decorations. At its best, Halloween gives children the spooky thrill of tormenting their neighbours on a chilly autumn night, dressed as anything from monsters to princesses and are ideally accompanied by their parents or an adult.

But it’s not always so safe, some parents don’t go along. Some trick-or-treaters are not small children. Some tricks involve scaring elderly people or damaging property which is outright vandalism. Usually the treat is no more than a handful of sweets and so the trick should be equally minimal.

If we’re teaching children that vandalism’s okay, even one night a year, then it’s the wrong lesson. Ethics are also about responsibilities.

Parents are responsible for the spirit in which their children celebrate Halloween. Is it all in good fun or an excuse to do something mean or greedy?

Our children are learning lessons that will last for years, their memories made more exciting by the wonderful spookiness of it all. Do we really want them to believe that doing a nasty trick or collecting a huge amount of sweets and money is what it’s all about?

I don’t agree with children asking for money for Halloween or coming several days before and after Halloween. One year I came home from work two days after Halloween to find three children peering through my front window to see if we were in “because the sweets were good”.

However you celebrate Halloween, it’s hard to believe that when we were children, our parents sent us out in the dark by ourselves. Sometimes we were gone for many hours until well past dark and we weren’t carrying mobiles then.

I wonder how many of us parenting today would allow our young children to do that. But wasn’t it such exciting fun?

In my house I will be the one Halloweening due to an unfortunate incident last year which involved hubby tripping over a bike on a path and scuffing his knees – he reckons it’s my turn this year.

Emma has gained her Early Years Professional Status, one of the first in Cumbria to do so.