30 October 2023 , 16:09
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It’s spooky season, which means children across the UK will be dressing up in their scariest costumes and going door-to-door for sweets - but what do YOU think about trick or treating?
The popular Halloween tradition, which involves children knocking on doors with a bag open for sweets and announcing "trick or treat", dates back more than 2,000 years. While tasty treats and creepy costumes can be exciting for young people, one woman has branded the tradition "unsafe" and "wrong".
Rae Radford, 60, has blasted the celebration, which she compared to "begging" and says it encourages mixed messages with "stranger danger". The grandmother said that her two children never went trick or treating, as she told the Express: "It is like begging and I just don't like it at all. It's wrong.
"I hate Halloween. I just think it encourages mixed messages and it's a waste of money. I can't stand it and think it's stupid. You spend most of your year telling your children not to knock on strangers' doors and not to take sweets from strangers and then, on one day of the year, you go 'no, that's fine."
She added: "I know an awful lot of parents go with small children but I've had 10-year-olds knock on our door." In fact, a recent Mott poll found that 15 percent of parents would allow their 9 to 11-year-olds to go trick or treating without adult supervision.
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What’s more, child safety expert Debra Smiley Holtzman stated that children are more likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween than on any other day. However, Colleen Harmeling, an associate professor in the school of business at Florida State University, told NPR that trick or treating is more than collecting candy.
She said: “I think it is this visibility to the community that they're embedded in. It's a night of fantasy, when they see all of these other kids pretending along with them." Research has shown that trick or treating can improve social skills, as it provides an opportunity to reinforce the value of manners. This can include teaching children to be polite to neighbours, and expressing gratitude after being handed a sweet.
While many families look forward to the age-old occasion, we want to know if you think trick or treating should be banned? Vote in our poll to have your say.
The Mirror will also be discussing the topic with you in the comments section below and you can join in! All you have to do is sign up, submit your comment, register your details and then you can take part.