5 Reasons To Stop Pushing Halloween On Kids

I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness, but sometimes I think they’re onto something in regard to not celebrating holidays. They’ve managed to escape the over-commercialism that holidays bring. It puts the focus on relationships instead of stuff. If there’s one holiday I’d like to see less emphasis on, it’s Halloween. Why do we push Halloween on our kids?

I had a friend in college who didn’t let his kids celebrate Halloween. He wasn’t a Jehovah’s Witness, he just didn’t agree with the premise of the holiday. It stems from Celtic traditions that interfered with his Christian beliefs.

Learn more about the history of Halloween here.

Today, it’s nearly impossible to keep our kids away from Halloween. It’s in the schools. It’s in the church. It’s everywhere. Although I’ve never been fond of the holiday, I let my daughter, Annie, celebrate. But I’ve also tried to keep it toned down. Still, others push it on her like a drug.

Stop Pushing Halloween On Our Kids

Halloween teaches kids the wrong values: I want my kid to learn to earn her rewards. Halloween teaches the opposite. It teaches kids that strangers will give them something for nothing. That’s not realistic. It also teaches kids to be something they’re not. I want my child to learn to be herself.
Halloween is a waste of natural resources: Think of all the plastic that goes into all the costumes and decorations. Halloween has almost caught up with Christmas in sales. In the end, most the Halloween stuff gets discarded. It winds up in our landfills as pollution.
Halloween is built on cheap labor: Nowadays, I think everyone knows that most of America’s cheap trinkets are made in China and third-world countries. Many of these workers are underpaid. They live in horrible conditions. Even the children have to work. It’s a tragedy that our kids’ pseudo-happiness is created by other kids’ misery.
Halloween promotes sugar: This is a no-brainer. Excessive sugar has been proven to lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Sugar leads to tooth decay. We’re creating a health crisis by allowing our kids to eat more sugar. It’s madness. Watch Sugar: The Bitter Truth.
Halloween doesn’t teach simplicity: Holidays tend to complicate life. Halloween is no different. We have to make special trips to the store to buy stuff we don’t really need. There are parties, costumes, candies, and trick-or-treating rituals to work into the schedule. It teaches the opposite of simplicity.

Call Me The Grinch Of Halloween

Halloween seems silly and excessive to me. I’ll be glad when Annie is a few years older. Hopefully, as she grows into a young adult, she’ll begin to understand my view on Halloween. Until then, I won’t restrict her fun by not allowing her to participate, but I will try to keep the hype to a dull roar.