"In light of the world we're living in, we would advise parents to be extra cautious and accompany their kids when they go out," said Amherst Police Chief John Moslow in an Oct. 21 Buffalo News article.
I remember when Halloween meant bobbing for apples and running up and down block after block of houses yelling "Trick or treat," when a child's biggest worry was how much longer he would have to sit in class before running home and changing into his costume. Parents' biggest concerns were the stomachaches that would follow the mouthfuls of candy sure to be eaten.
For children, the consequences of Halloween are irrelevant. The holiday means little more than dressing up in the scariest costume you can convince your mother to buy and scouring the neighborhood with your friends for massive amounts of candy.
This year, however, Halloween follows a month of national apprehension and unease. A holiday that revels in fright and gruesomeness has fallen under the shadow of Sept. 11, which exhibited these traits all too graphically. The subsequent anthrax attacks have done nothing to calm the nerves of an already distressed society.
"There is a widespread sense across the country that the fantasy of horror and gruesomeness is inappropriate on the heels of having been visited by real horror," said Jack Santino, incoming president of the American Folklore Society, said in the Oct. 30 issue of the Christian Science Monitor.
As a result, parents, police and community officials have been considering alternatives, such as enclosed neighborhood parties, to the traditional Halloween ritual of trick-or-treating, and have been discouraging customary Halloween pranks, taking the "trick" out of the treat.
"It might be a year to attend something organized and stay within your community," said Buffalo Police Commissioner Rocco J. Dina in the Oct. 21 Buffalo News article.
It is estimated there will be a 20 percent decrease in trick-or-treating this year due to anthrax scares, and some store owners are toning down the costume selection they are carrying, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Even the habitual checking for inedible, unsafe candy has reached new heights. As a trick-or-treater, I was always told not to eat anything that wasn't in a sealed wrapper. This year, though, parents can ease their minds by x-raying candy at a local chiropractic firm. The Williamsville company is offering free screening Thursday through Saturday.
While I agree with the temporary necessity of these services, I can't help but feel discouraged by their existence. One of the reoccurring themes over the past month and a half has been the refusal to let our lives be permanently effected by terrorists.
Still, no matter where you turn, something has been altered, toned down or canceled. We've seen it in movies, video games, sports, and even in the media. The revision of something as simple as a holiday is the next step of a society that is slowly and subtly moving towards constraint where once there was freedom.
As insignificant as the x-raying of Halloween candy might sound considering recent world events, I can't help but wonder if this will be a routine practice two generations from now. I can only hope this deviation from tradition is a suspension of normalcy rather than a new standard we will adapt to and accept in years to come.
