By now I’m sure you are all familiar with Halloween. The holiday in which we dress up, watch horror movies, ask strangers for sweets and eat pumpkin products. Halloween falls on the 31st of October, but there is a petition created by the Halloween & Costume Association to change that. The Petition calls for Halloween to be moved to the last Saturday of October instead, so it always falls on a weekend.
When I first saw this, my initial reaction was shock that people would support it, but at the same time I sort of understood the reasoning. I would have argued that you can just celebrate the holiday on the closest weekend, which works if you are an adult as that’s usually when parties are scheduled for and when bars and clubs have their festive events on. However, for children trick-or-treating it is not so simple as to just celebrate when you see fit.
My main issue with the petition, is that the main bulk of the information provided has nothing to do with changing the date and everything to do with promoting more safety measures on Halloween. The petition states:
- “3,800 Halloween-related injuries each year. Talk to your kids about safety before they head out!
- 82% of parents don’t use high visibility aids on their costume, be sure to incorporate reflective tape, glow sticks, finger lights or light up accessories
- 63% of children don’t carry a flashlight while they are tick-or-treating. Grab a clip-on light if they don’t want to carry one!Children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween. Discuss safety, pre-plan a route, stay on side walks and use cross walks
- 65% of parents don’t discuss Halloween safety with their children. Talk with your kids and offer ways to ensure a fun and safe experience
- 70%of parents don’t accompany their children trick-or-treating. You’re never too old to trick-or-treat! Grab a costume and take advantage of some good ol’ fashioned family bonding!”
Then, the whole argument for changing the date of the holiday is at the bottom, and says:
- “51% Of Millennials say Halloween is their favorite holiday, why cram it into 2 rushed evening weekday hours when it deserves a full day!?!”
So, in short, we should change the date of Halloween so the last Saturday in October because it is half of millennial’s favorite holiday.
What do you think of the idea? Let us know in the comments!