Search icon

Musings

29th Oct 2021

Musings: After all that they’ve been through, let children have Halloween night

Melissa Carton

They’ve missed out on so much already.

While there are no rules against children going trick or treating this year, there still seems to be a lot of negativity attached to the idea of it going ahead.

I’ve seen messages in neighbourhood groups that I’m in with people giving out that there will be trick or treaters this year and messages in parenting groups saying that they will not allow their children out to trick or treat.

While I won’t tell any other parent what decision to make for their child, I do think over all that children deserve to go trick or treat this year after all they’ve been put through during the pandemic.

While we all had our difficulties with lockdown, children were some of the hardest hit.

Pulled out of school with no clear idea of when they would go back, many of them missing communions, confirmations and graduations.

They were not allowed to see their grandparents, not allowed play with friends and even the government put out a warning to parents last year to not allow them out on Halloween night, so they lost that too.

That’s why this year I think more than any year before, children deserve to take back the night and have some fun.

There’s only so many years that our children get to enjoy thing like the Easter Bunny, Santa and trick or treating and I feel that it’s very unfair to take it away from them for a second year.

If adults can have pubs and nightclubs then it’s only right that children should be able to celebrate Halloween their way too.

Personally I will be allowing my children to trick or treat and I’ll be buying in lots of sweets for all the other children in my neighbourhood too.