Halloween - all trick and no treat?
31st October 2008
The streets of many British towns will soon be over-run by teams of ghoulishly dressed children knocking on their neighbours’ doors demanding rewards of sweets or, if denied the treat, performing a ‘trick’ upon the residence.
Halloween in celebrated annually on 31 October. The custom can be dated back to the medieval practise of ‘souling’ where the poor of the area would go from door-to-door on Hallowmas (1 November), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Soul’s Day (2 November). The costume element is believed to come from another medieval tradition called ‘guising’ where small children donned costumes to perform tricks or sing to be rewarded with treats.
This tradition of trick-or treating has continued to the present day. In an article published in The Times on 25 October Dr Simon Moore, a psychology lecturer from London Metropolitan University commented on the pros and cons of allowing children to go trick or treating this Halloween.
In recent years worries have spread that trick-or-treating encourages vandalism and an attitude of ‘entitlement’ amongst young children. There are many householders who fear the doorbell ringing in case it turns out to be gang of thugs armed with eggs. In an age of fear and paranoia has trick-or-treating had its day?
Dr Moore counters this: ‘Halloween offers the opportunity to experience independence that children don’t get in their lifestyles today. Some children haven’t learnt how to deal with rejection or disappointment. Halloween could be the first time they’ve encountered that situation.’
He explains that parents who follow their children do so out of a lack of trust: ‘If parents haven’t allowed their children to explore what it is not to get a nice response or not to win, who knows what response the child will give?’
Although Dr Moore cautions against instilling the fear that every adult outside of the immediate family is a monster he does advise parents to put an older child in charge of the group as a ‘subtle way of reinforcing parental authority.’
Dorothy Rowe, a renowned psychologist and author who often gives talks at London Metropolitan University said: ‘It’s a matter of how parents impart information…. If they do it in a context of ‘difficulties can arise in the world; you need to be aware of this and behave bravely and sensibly,’ that’s how the child will receive the message.’
‘There’s got to be some trust… children need to learn that if they do things well under the guidance of your rule system, you will start to unravel the leash a little bit more.’