Gov't controlled Trick or Treating (rant)

Colonel Panic

Colonel Panic

Well-known member
*rant mode on*

Some of the communities around where I live have stipulated that trick or treating is to be done between 6 and 8- no earlier, no later. They were even using the emergency air sirens to signal the start and end times.

I couldn't believe it when I heard about it. Now the government wants to tell us (our kids) when we can go out trick or treating (down to the minute). Where is this going to end?

When I was growing up, trick or treating was a child's birthright. You started at dusk and kept going until all the porch lights were out. That was it.

Why do we need to be told when to do this? Any house that wants to pass out candy past 8 should be able to do so. Any child too young to know when to go and when to come home are escorted by their parents anyway.

Why does government think they need to get their grimy little hands in EVERYTHING? What's next- Candy tax?

*rant mode off*
 
Colonel Panic said:
Why do we need to be told when to do this?
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I'm sure they are just trying to protect people from vandals. They must have received complaints to actually go to all this trouble. It's probably cheaper than hiring extra officers...Yeah, it's lame, but I don't think it comes from an urge to control people's lives, it comes from an urge to placate the complaints of citizens. If all kids and teenagers trick or treated in a responsible way I'm sure none of this would happen. Sadly, doesn't seem like it's the case where you live.
 
Batutta said:
I had that response when a friend back in Los Angeles told me their 7 year old daughter had to go through a school drill on what to do if a maniac with a gun starts shooting people. I don't know if I want to live in a world where this has to happen.
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See, that doesn't shock me. We have lockdown drills here as well. But that's preparing for the possibility of a real threat. At least there is a history there.

Telling people when they can be on the street and for how long just sounds ridiculous to me. And emergency sirens as well?
What happened there in the past that requires such a drastic response? Riots?

If that's the case they should do this after playoff games and the like. At least that has a real history of violence and chaos.

MAH
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
See, that doesn't shock me. We have lockdown drills here as well. But that's preparing for the possibility of a real threat.
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But for a 7 year old? I can understand a basic emergency drill, but when they actually have to tell them what to do if they see a "bad guy with a gun shooting people", that just saddens me...I'm not arguing that the air raid sirens are stupid...I'm just saying stupid halloween laws don't come from nowhere. There isn't some lawmaker thinking up stupid ways to control people's lives. They get pressure from citizens, and police, who probably have dealt with an excess of Halloween vandalism and are tired of it. They should have just heightened their law enforcement presence, but as I said, they may not have had the resources to do that in these lean times.
 
Batutta said:
But for a 7 year old? I can understand a basic emergency drill, but when they actually have to tell them what to do if they see a "bad guy with a gun shooting people", that just saddens me...
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I don't know any school that does that. Not with children that young.

The school my daughter goes to sells it to the kids as an emergency drill. Like if we have an earthquake or that sort of thing (which we did). She has no idea what it is also for but will follow the lead of the teachers and alarms for the lock-down procedure. She started that when she was 5 or 6 years old.

She'll learn when she's older but for now... no. Of course not. I doubt any teacher would teach that to a child.

MAH
 
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Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I don't know any school that does that. Not with children that young. She'll learn when she's older but for now... no. Of course not. I doubt any teacher would teach that to a child.

MAH
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Those were the literal words that were said to the child of my friend in Los Angeles (actually Pasadena)...hence my reaction.
 
Batutta said:
Those were the literal words that were said to the child of my friend in Los Angeles (actually Pasadena)...hence my reaction.
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Yeah, that's nuts! Wow.

We're way off topic though.

Colonel, You really should have recorded the streets emptying and the sirens wailing. Crazy stuff.
 
I realize it's kind of a moot ordinance with most parents (and ALL"of age" kids) thinking it's just as lame as we do. Most probably still did what they wanted to do (candy givers and takers alike). But I'm sure there's a small handfull who shut everything down for fear of retribution when they would have otherwise enjoyed the fun a little later into the night.

It is a shame that we live in a world that needs to be policed though a microscope for whatever reason. You're probably right, Batutta- a few punks have to ruin it for everyone else.
 
The reasoning doesn't make stuff like this better. The overarching question here is if people's freedom- such as the ability to go trick-or-treating at will- is a sacrifice that should be made for potential protection. It seems like a pretty small issue for me to attach that much significance to, but it's the sum of small issues that get us to the big problems. Sure, it's possible that a few vandals will cause problems, and it probably has happened... but all freedoms have the risk of misuse, and that is no reason to take them away. Unless something really drastic occurred, or vandalism was prevalent to an extreme extent, but I find those pretty unlikely.
 
Soldiers are dying to protect our childrens rights to trick or treat as long as they desire. Every state should make the day after haloween a holiday, so the kids don't have to get up for school the next morning. Then they could stay out as long as they wanted. It's a travesty that the children of Michigan only have 2 hours to collect their candy. If we gave them a few extra hours they could collect 6 or 7lbs. of candy instead of just 2lbs. A few hours can make a huge difference in feeding their starving bellies. Furthermore 17 year olds should be considered 'trick or treaters' as well, they deserve to have candy just as much as an 8 year old.

FREEDOM!!!! Give me a Kit Kat bar or give me death!

We should all write our congressional leaders to correct this injustice.
 
That I'm actually going to support. Today was the first day of Christmas in the land of also working in retail.
 
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