Communities Should Be More Aware of Threats to Small Children on Halloween

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Original Article
3. Reflection

Content

1. Introduction

     (Written on October 31st, 2021)

     I wrote the article below at the age of sixteen and a half years old. The article was written for my high school writing workshop class.

     I wrote this article to draw attention to the risks which older children who are more interested in the “trick” part of “trick or treating”, pose to younger children who are more interested in treats, on Halloween.

     I am reproducing the article here, below, with the minimum amount of edits necessary, to commemorate Halloween 2021 as well as the eighteenth anniversary of the completion of my article (originally titled “Halloween”).

     I wrote this article because of three major events:
     1) I was sprayed in the face with shaving cream by older kids;
     2) my younger brother had some of his candy stolen one year; and
     3) a hundred or so kids would gather at the park between my middle school and the park and police station, to engage in a melee of an hour-long shaving-cream fight, which was completely impossible to pass through unscathed (if you wanted to start trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods further along in that northward direction in east Lake Bluff, Illinois).
     These factors made it difficult to avoid eventually voicing my opinion on the matter, which I did during my junior year of high school.

     I certainly wrote this article in the interest of protecting smaller children on Halloween. But I should not do any grand-standing, as I alluded to my own activity in the article, without admitting to it.

     Even I, myself, was not immune from – as I mention in the article – getting “caught up in the violence of the moment” while I was among kids who were vandalizing property and spraying shaving cream into other kids’ faces.

     In fact, one year, I was so angry about being shaving-creamed – or so afraid of being shaving-creamed, I can’t remember – that I beat a smaller kid with a thin wooden stick that was part of my costume. I was dressed as a pimp that Halloween. I was about 12 years old.

     Why was I allowed to dress as a pimp for Halloween at the age of about 12 years old? The same reason that kids were getting shaving-creamed in the face as they ran home from gathering candy: a lack of parental supervision.

     Reflecting back upon this essay – and upon Halloween in general – from 2021, it seems that the lesson here should be that parents, the police, and older kids alike, all play a role in making Halloween more scary than necessary for small children.

     [Note:

     In the article below, when I use the phrase “Trick-or-Treating”, I refer to the act of gathering candy without committing acts of vandalism (even though the use of the phrase ordinarily implies a mix of candy-gathering and vandalism).]

 

2. Original Article

     (Written from mid-October to October 20th, 2003)

     The practice of Trick-or-Treating is rapidly becoming a less common form of Halloween fun than going out and vandalizing people’s houses, but should these more dangerous kinds of activities be allowed?

     Typically, people associate Halloween with candy and costumes and being out late at night having fun. But there is a problem that seems to be growing every year. Kids who attend [m]iddle [s]chool or [h]igh [s]chool who think themselves too old to dress up and go out Trick-or-Treating, find it fun to go out when the candy hunt is ending, carrying cans of shaving cream, cartons of eggs and rolls of toilet paper and scare younger children, steal their candy, hit Trick-or-Treaters and houses with eggs, T.P. countless trees in random people’s front yards[,] and participate in shaving-cream fights.

     These actions are destructive and unnecessary, and anyone who commits any of the thoughtless acts of vandalism year after year is wasting his time and could be having just as much fun without putting himself or others in danger.

     In Lake Bluff, for the last few years, students attending Lake Bluff Middle School have been gathering in the park across from the school to have shaving-cream fights. This is a dangerous, unhealthful thing to do and considering its duration, it is the biggest waste of time that regularly occurs on Halloween, taking up nearly an hour of time that could be spent gathering candy from the many residenc[e]s just one block away.

     Much of the danger in this event lies in how many small children follow their older siblings or friends and watch them participate in the fight. If they come anywhere near the park, anyone already involved in the fight could get caught up in the violence of the moment and start spraying younger children, and hurting them if the shaving cream gets in their eyes.

     Another part of the danger: the Lake Bluff Police Station is right on the other end of the park. While the police are hosting a small barbecue with soda, hot dogs and chips, completely free for anyone to enjoy, there is a massive act of vandalism [occurring] directly across the park. There is a high probability that the police will drive around the park and break up the fight, and anyone in direct violation of the law could get in big trouble.

     Throwing toilet paper over people’s trees, hurling eggs at their front doors, and smashing Jack-[o]’Lanterns are also Halloween activities that can easily get out-of-hand.

     This is vandalism and trespassing[,] and could warrant the owner of the house being vandalized to call the police[,] and anyone on their property seen doing these things could be arrested.

     Cleaning toilet paper off of trees and wiping raw eggs off garages, porches and front doors could take days or even weeks[;] and throwing pumpkins to the ground creates waste, [and] ugly orange stains on the sidewalks, and [shows] no regard for the amount of time, energy, money and effort people put into the pumpkin’s design.

     Another common action is walking through the streets when children are walking home and running up to them, spraying shaving cream in their faces, ruining their costumes, and stealing bags full of candy.

     This behavior is mean and immoral and robs the victims of the satisfaction of going from house to house and getting hundreds of pieces of candy all on their own, especially if it is their first time not accompanied by an adult or friend.

     Destroying property, hurting people, ruining their possessions, stealing their belongings and taking away the satisfaction of a night’s work is dangerous, hurtful and does not constitute a good time.

     The process of thinking up a creative idea for a costume, buying or making it, carving a Jack-[o]’-Lantern and spending an evening going from house to house and engaging in polite conversation with strangers (rather than pelting them with things) and collecting piles of candy is fun, safe, and won’t get you into trouble.

     So get out there, have fun and bring a flashlight.

     P.S.:

     Please wear something scary. I don’t scream when I see an M&M; I eat it.




3. Reflection

     (Written on November 2nd, 2021)

     I should also mention that the stance on vandalism on Halloween which I held as a teen did not deter me from participating in several minor acts of vandalism around the same time; as I helped some friends from the theater stage crew toilet-paper the home of Lake Forest High School theater director David "Dave" Miller.
     This was at least 14 years before I discovered that Miller had been accused of having sexual relationships with high school -age boys.
     So maybe there are a few people in my community who deserve a little bit of vandalism.
     It's unfortunate that small children became targets of older children who got out of control, but if you think about it, maybe giving kids one day a year when they can get out of control, is what gave those of us from the theater stage crew the nerve to toilet-paper Miller's house as openly (and repeatedly) as we did.

Written from early October to October 20^th, 2003

Originally written for a high school language arts class
and submitted under the title “Halloween”

Introduction Written on October 31^st, 2021

Published to this blog on October 31^st, 2021

Reflection Written and Added on November 2nd, 2021