Halloween: Teens, Tots and Looking Hot
Katye Gilliland
October 21, 2009
Filed under Features, Opinions and Views, Student Life
Halloween has been a classic holiday for Americans since it began in the early nineteenth century with European emigrants. Trick or Treating did not become a way to celebrate until the 1920’s. The original purpose of Halloween is determined by which culture was celebrating it. The most widely known reason for the holiday is to celebrate the saints of the church. The holiday traces back to an Irish origin. Americans have turned the holiday into a chance to dress up in all kinds of costumes, party, trick or treat, enjoy frights in a haunted house, carve pumpkins, and scare people.
Here in North Augusta, most of the children have grown up in the tradition of trick or treating. Parents love to see the unique costumes, children love to get free candy, and teenagers love to scare friends and family. As the children get olderand enter their teenage years, some still go out candy snatching. For many people, it’s fun to dress up and it’s not so much the candy that draws then in, but the opportunity to dress up.
The outgoing and creative sophomore Carter Turner still takes the opportunity, “When you become a teenager it’s more about hanging out with friends rather than candy. I still get excited to dress up every year. The older you get, into the teenage years, you’re too old. But then again…I went last year,-laughs-.”
When is it time to give up the dressing up and trick or treating? Maybe there is an invisible age limit that some people cross. Should we high school students be trick or treating? Junior Trey Lambert is a little too mature for the t-o-t: “I think that high schoolers should not trick or treat. 12 should be the age when you stop trick or treating and start going to parties.”
Katye's future husband . . . not dressed up for Halloween.
Junior Greg Bush gives out candy, and dresses up, “I don’t trick or treat anymore. I do dress up as a dead clown every year. It scares my 24 year old brother more than the little kids.” Giving out candy to young trick or treaters is a great way to have fun, see everyone dressed up, scare a few little ones, and dress up yourself. Too boring for you? Or, maybe you don’t want to spend anymore time at home that completely necessary.
This brings us back to the party aspect. In a town as small as ours, it’s not hard to find a party to attend on October 31. Once you’ve found the party to go to, the next step is to decide if you will dress up. The most common choice is to dress up and some people destroy the pure concept of dressing up. In the movie Mean Girls, Halloween is described as a night that you can dress like a “total [promiscuous]person” and nobody cares. Sophomore Katie Shreve closely agrees, “It’s a night for everyone to be whoever you want to be. And it’s one night that you can dress [inappropriately] and not be judged.”
If a teenage girl is going to dress up for a Halloween party, what is too far? Party city and other costume retailers advertise skimpy, scandalous outfits such as the Sexy Pirate, Sexy Convict, The Rocky Costume, and Sexy Cinderella. Teenage girls often take the chance to dress sexy and take it to an extreme. The night may be for some girls to dress provocatively, but some people don’t want to have to see cleavage and half-moon butt peeks all night.
Some sexy costumes.
Before going to the party, evaluate who will be at the party, what kind of costume is appropriate and how long you’ll have to stay in the outfit. Junior Molly Gibbs is a lady and wants to show it: “I think that it doesn’t matter how you dress on Halloween, if you respect yourself enough, then you shouldn’t be too revealing. It’s all for fun and not all girls who dress up, do it for the wrong reasons. Just be who you are and hope you don’t make a bad impression.”
So what have we learned? If you chose to go to a party, dress appropriately and don’t make it an excuse to show your butt. If you really must trick or treat…at least have a younger relative along side you, it’ll make you look like less of an idiot. If you want to hand out candy, make it more fun by dressing up and scaring people. Whatever you chose to do, make it a safe and scary Halloween.
