Staff Editorial: Key to Halloween festivities: Safety and common sense
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Opinions
More than 2,000 years ago, the Celts, who occupied the area now known as Ireland, recognized Nov. 1 as the beginning of the new year. Oct. 31, in turn, was a day they believed marked the blurring of the lines between the material and spiritual worlds.
They celebrated the day by wearing skins and heads of animals and dancing around a large communal bonfire in hopes of gaining the favor of the spirits for protection over the cold, dark winter months.
Halloween is the great-great-great grandchild of this festival and, in all honesty, is a much less important holiday in our culture. But it is an important holiday nonetheless.
As children, most of us looked forward to Halloween with tempered glee. Who could possibly deny the chance to dress up as our favorite pop culture character or anything our imagination could muster up? Add to that the opportunity to gain access to free candy simply by throwing out the typically idle threat of "Trick or Treat!" and you've got a recipe for one of the favorite holidays of American children.
However, years later, few of us still look forward to the holiday with the same type of unbridled excitement. Few college students still go out trick-or-treating. If you do, stop it. You are big boys and girls now, and it's time to leave the begging for sugary snacks to the children.
But, all the same, it is still a highly celebrated tradition all across the nation among people of all ages.
Among college students, though, it is more often a chance to go out and drink under the guise of costumed anonymity. The important thing is not so much the costume one chooses or even the destination one arrives at, but that everyone exercises safety.
Among college students, Halloween tends to rank right up there with New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day in terms of ridiculous debauchery and drunkenness. And as long as those who partake are of age, far be it for those at The Daily Eastern News to tell you how to celebrate your holiday. Except, again, to plead for the case of safety.
They celebrated the day by wearing skins and heads of animals and dancing around a large communal bonfire in hopes of gaining the favor of the spirits for protection over the cold, dark winter months.
Halloween is the great-great-great grandchild of this festival and, in all honesty, is a much less important holiday in our culture. But it is an important holiday nonetheless.
As children, most of us looked forward to Halloween with tempered glee. Who could possibly deny the chance to dress up as our favorite pop culture character or anything our imagination could muster up? Add to that the opportunity to gain access to free candy simply by throwing out the typically idle threat of "Trick or Treat!" and you've got a recipe for one of the favorite holidays of American children.
However, years later, few of us still look forward to the holiday with the same type of unbridled excitement. Few college students still go out trick-or-treating. If you do, stop it. You are big boys and girls now, and it's time to leave the begging for sugary snacks to the children.
But, all the same, it is still a highly celebrated tradition all across the nation among people of all ages.
Among college students, though, it is more often a chance to go out and drink under the guise of costumed anonymity. The important thing is not so much the costume one chooses or even the destination one arrives at, but that everyone exercises safety.
Among college students, Halloween tends to rank right up there with New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day in terms of ridiculous debauchery and drunkenness. And as long as those who partake are of age, far be it for those at The Daily Eastern News to tell you how to celebrate your holiday. Except, again, to plead for the case of safety.
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