As Halloween approaches, the debate over whether the most frightening night of the year should be a day off is gaining traction. Many people believe after hundreds of years of celebration, Halloween deserves time off like other holidays. For most, the struggle with planning, school, work and safety makes the holiday a logistical nightmare.
Halloween has evolved past a children’s holiday into a day of elaborate costumes and parties. As anyone who has participated would know, Halloween can end up a long, sleepless night. A full day off would give a family relief from their responsibilities to enjoy spending time with others and making memories for their kids.
According to www.brittanica.com, “Instead of rushing home from school and work to fit in dinner and homework before setting out for trick-or-treating, kids and parents could enjoy the whole day and do more fun Halloween activities together.” For kids in the western world and especially the United States, dressing up and trick-or-treating is an important childhood tradition.
Having time off for Halloween would be beneficial to kids from elementary to high school in the sense that they wouldn’t miss crucial lessons by being too tired and sluggish. An early start to Halloween activities would ensure less mistakes and accidents in workplaces as well. It’s important that people properly recover before they are expected to be professional to avoid any mishaps.
“I don’t think we should have Halloween off,” said junior Alaina Tiner. “I think that having the day after Halloween off would be better, because Halloween activities tend to go late, so it would be nice to get to sleep in the day after,” Tiner said.
Although Tiner made a fine point, having the day after Halloween off has less sense to it. With the actual day of Halloween off, traditions could be moved earlier in the day, making it safer and less stressful. Halloween might not be a federal holiday, but it would be more practical to have the well-known Oct. 31 off compared to Nov. 1.
Whether time off was given by moving Halloween to the weekend or declaring it a federal holiday, the break would be beneficial to all in some manner.
