Friday, October 24, 2014

Opinion: Halloween, A Trick or a Treat?

Photo from http://morguefile.com/archive/#/?q=halloween
Some people do not celebrate Halloween for different reasons. Do you think Halloween is a holiday that everyone should celebrate? Do you enjoy or dislike Halloween?

Every year on October 31 we celebrate a holiday which we call Halloween. People celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating or through Halloween parties, wearing costumes, carving jack o' lanterns, lighting fires, watching scary movies and listening to frightening stories, playing pranks and visiting haunted attractions. These Halloween activities make some people like Halloween but they are also activities that puts others off the idea of Halloween.

I think it is reasonable not to celebrate Halloween, because some people have personal reasons or even reasons that they are not willing to share with people about why (or why not) they celebrate Halloween. Others can be superstitious about things like the black cat for example, and the idea of Halloween just scares them.

If you had to ask me, I think that Halloween is more of a fun holiday then any of the other holidays, and it is also personally one of my favourites. It is nothing compared to Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving- we do celebrate those in candy or activities, but none are like the activities that we would do on Halloween.

I find that Halloween is also a holiday that attracts mostly teenagers than any other age group- at least the trick part does. As we all know, teenagers love to have a good time, and Halloween is the perfect time to have fun. For example, some people take things way too far, such as tormenting the elders in the village that don't mean any harm to anyone. Some older people do not enjoy Halloween because of this. On the other hand, little children treat Halloween as a fun experience where they can dress up as their favourite movie character and go get free candy. We all know this because when you say the word treat a million little children get over excited.

One way that we could get more involved in the positive ways of Halloween are the activity we have here at school called "Trick or Peas". It is a great way to get involved in the community, school and even just have a positive out look on Halloween. You go door to door and ask for canned foods that we can use at school to send to our Food Bank and feed people in need. To get more information on "Trick or Peas" you can go to our High School Student Council.

Some people take part in the Halloween spirit, and others don't. Myself, I don't usually dress up on a dress up day or Halloween because I don't really like costumes. Although I don't dress up, it doesn't mean I don't have the Halloween spirit, it actually is one of my favourite holidays and I just choose to not dress up. To get some other people's opinions for the Blackville Talon I asked some of my Kindergarten co-op class a question to see what their view on Halloween was. The question I asked them was "Do you enjoy or dislike Halloween, and why?" here is what they had to say:

Kiara Dunnett (KN)- "I like Halloween because I get treats!"

Dallas Curtis (KN)- "I like Halloween because I like dressing up. My favourite costume is the Hulk."

I think that if you like Halloween then you can still go out and have a fun time but just make sure you keep in mind to have respect for others. Particularly those that may be frightened or if Halloween just isn't their thing.

Have a Happy Halloween and also put your input into the Halloween survey on the Blackville Talon!


By: Ashton O'Donnell