Anonymous #2 4d

Bc I live in a rural conservative area. We come to a friend of the family’s house who lives in a neighborhood so we can help and partake with passing out candy. And it’s still pretty alive here. It’s mostly young couples who won’t let their kids come. Church people are out in swarms

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Anonymous #2 4d

it could probably be a mix but i attributed it more to a rise of evangelism and fearmongering about the holiday’s supposed roots in paganism and a loss of walkability in our communities, also in a post-covid world which definitely fragmented in person community ties, there’s kind of a lot of factors that contribute to the downfall of halloween that’s speak to our present moment

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Anonymous #3 4d

Yeah but even evangelism is on the extreme side of conservatism. Just like the never leave your house people are on the extreme side of liberal/left. It’s like 10% of both sides. I do think the biggest factor is just the rise of Facebook trunk or treat groups. People have been going out every weekend to fall festivals at churches, jobs, daycares, school groups, sports teams, etc all month. They’re worn out by the time Halloween gets here

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Anonymous #2 4d

>50% of homeowners are senior citizens. The reason trick or treat isn't as big a deal anymore is because young families who have children no longer occupy the single-family homes.

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Anonymous #4 4d

I’d agree but even apartment complexes used to have trick or treaters. My aunt and cousins lived in one when I was younger and it was tons of people. I never had a one when I lived in one 2021-2023 (I didn’t live in student housing it was a general public apartment a full of families)

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Anonymous #4 4d

But also what are we counting as senior citizens? Bc people 65+ only make up 34% of homeowners (typically the mark for senior)

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Anonymous #2 4d

Obviously yes apartment complexes can still have trick or treat but the point is more broad than just homeownership. It's economics. Halloween is a commercial holiday and we live in a time that finances are becoming increasingly difficult for most average people. It's hard to justify participating when your choice is between going trick or treating and having food in the fridge and keeping the lights on.

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Anonymous #4 4d

You can dress up for Halloween for cheap. There’s tons of costumes you can make homemade, throw together, thrift shops are full of them. your options aren’t go or eat, your options or more go as the popular expensive K-pop demon hunters character you want or go as a sheet ghost.

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Anonymous #2 4d

Most "senior citizen" benefits and communities allow claimants to begin at age 55.

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Anonymous #4 4d

I wouldnt say AARP letting you join is the real mark of senior citizenship. Hell my parents are 54 and 55. People are living longer, and having kids later. 55 ain’t that old fam. You don’t qualify for Social security until 62, other government and assistance programs don’t start until 60, and the average retirement age is 64 for women and 62 for men

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Anonymous #2 4d

I think at this point you are just arguing for the sake of it or naive to a fault. Not everyone has the option to do what you described no matter how cheap you think it might be. Some people, like my parents when I was of the age to go trick or treating, could not afford to take off work for something like that because finances were that tight. I'm painfully aware that there were/are people in very similar situations. It isn't as simple as "throw a bedsheet on your head and call it a day".

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Anonymous #5 3d

1- the only documented cases of candy tampering have been parents doing it to their own children 2- kidnapping rates have been going DOWN, and the number one most frequent type of kidnapping is done by a non-custodial parent The only thing that has changed is people read the news more, and are exposed to the stories of it happening more

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Anonymous #2 3d

Yes, child trafficking rates are on the rise. The number of detected child victims globally increased by 31% between 2019 and 2022…Children now account for 38% of all detected human trafficking victims worldwide. And just because candy tempering isn’t common, doesn’t mean parents aren’t worried about it.

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Anonymous #5 3d

It’s not that candy tampering “isn’t common” it’s NEVER happened. You can also solve that by going with your children and check their candy. Also, there was a spike in all crime during Covid (2020-2022), but since then the trend has gone back down. We’re still on a decline. It is an issue, but again easily solved by walking with your children. I do think it’s ironic parents’ solution to a kidnapping risk is taking your children to a place where you get into people’s cars for candy

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Anonymous #2 3d

eh idk, it’s a mix of both most likely. because it’s mainly conservatives who are afraid of walkable cities and mixed housing, that it’s too close to other people. that they’d prefer a society where more cars are seen in the streets rather than human beings walking around. a paranoia of being around others... looking outside and seeing human beings around their premises. like look it up, 15 minute cities (walkable cities) is communism to many of them.

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Anonymous #2 3d

You don’t get into peoples cars…everyone is parked and people decorate their trunks and sit in camp chairs in a closed off parking lot handing out candy lol

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Anonymous #5 3d

You reach into their trunks. Part of the fun is the decor and I’ve seen it with the bowl behind screens and decorations you have to reach/climb into. Either way: how’s that any different than sitting in camp chairs in their decorated garages with a decorated table of candy. If they do anything you literally know where they live (vs the car if something went wrong you wouldn’t even have their license plate bc the trunk is open)

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