As a kid, I remember for years and years I would think about who or what I would dress up as for Halloween. The dressing up was something I enjoyed because I would dress up as your basic princesses or some Disney character; but, most importantly, I enjoyed going out, and going door-to-door for candy. Afterwards, I would come home with a big bag in my hands and count all the candy I had with my friends, and we would trade pieces of candy with each other. At the end of the day, we would all go to bed with stomach aches from having a competition of who could eat all the candy. I was sure of it, that when I grew up I would eventually take my kids or grandchildren to go trick-or-treating – but that is just not the case anymore.

The number of trick-or-treaters has reduced drastically, where as when I was younger I remember getting a minimum of 20 kids knocking on my door each year. Now, it is completely pointless to even buy candy because I get a maximum of 3 kids knocking on my door. It may be that kids are just not interested, or possibly there is a bigger picture as to why kids do not trick-or-treat.

I believe it is a mixture of both – kids do not need to go trick-or-treating because there is absolutely no desire and instead there is technology. Technology stops not just kids, but teenagers and adults, from going outside and being productive. I barely see any children running around outside or riding their bikes anymore because it is just not interesting. Kids and adults, too, would much rather play video games inside than go outside and enjoy the sunshine. I also believe parents do not encourage kids to go outside much either. It is more convenient for them to be inside where parents can keep a close eye on their child and make sure they are not getting into trouble. There is also a bunch of possibilities that could happen in the outside world – kids could get hurt, not just by tripping on their foot and scraping their knee, but being kidnapped, drugged, or even killed. It’s dangerous and scary outside, considering what has been happening in the world lately.

Regardless of the possibilities, kids are hardly going trick-or-treating these days or they aren’t at all. Before you know it, it will be way too much of a risk and trick-or-treating will not be an exciting activity on Halloween anymore. To me, this is truly sad and I wish the world hasn’t changed so much since I was younger.