Tomorrow is Halloween.
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Some years ago, you might never have become aware of that inauspicious date.
You were probably already worrying about Christmas and wondering how soon the Easter eggs were going to make their appearance at the supermarket.
But today, for whatever reason, we have become a country that celebrates Halloween. It is an event youngsters have embraced because of all it brings with it - costumes and lollies.
But why, of all the festivities we could adopt, have we taken this one and run with it?
What on earth is Halloween? According to our friends at Wikipedia, the “traditional focus of All Hallows’ Eve revolves around the theme of using humour and ridicule to confront the power of death”.
It seems it is yet another un-Australian custom we have adopted to give the kids a bit of fun.
What really sits badly is not the emphasis on death and the supernatural, but the emphasis on lollies, and knocking on a stranger’s door to ask for them.
Here we are hammering in the “stranger danger” message and worrying ourselves sick about who is looking through the school gates, then we’re telling kids it’s okay to go about knocking on doors and asking for Fantales and Freddo Frogs.
Even with a smiling parent hovering in the background, this is a bit of a dodgy message to be giving.
Maybe we should have adopted Thanksgiving instead, or better still, come up with our own custom for the kids – does anyone have any ideas? Let us know on our website or Facebook.
Australia Day works a treat, but if we really need something else, let’s make it a bit more in keeping with our values and our beliefs.