Halloween!

It's that time of year again: Halloween!  Now, while some people claim this is the holiday of the devil, I find that very hard to believe.  What is so wrong in letting kids dress up and play pretend while they go to houses collecting candy?  I must say that, as a costumer, this is definitely one of my favorite holidays (right behind Christmas). 

I especially love Halloween because of the fact that kids can be whatever they want to be for one night.  Our society is slowly taking creativity out of the classrooms and simply forcing children to recite facts and focus on the "important" subjects of math and science.  While I agree that these are very important topics to discuss and learn, I also have to put my two cents in for literature and the arts.  After all, what kind of theatre major would I be if I didn't?

In a world that is constantly cutting budgets from the art and music programs in elementary schools, and from band and theatre programs in high schools, how are children supposed to explore those fields that give us a richness to life? Society puts so much importance on academics and (in the south, at least) sports, that it becomes very difficult for students to use their imaginations.  And I can't help but notice that every year, Halloween seems to become less and less important as well.  At this rate, kids are not going to understand why we played dress-up when we were their age, or pretended to fend off the evil warriors from attacking the castle, or why it was so much fun to go trick-or-treating on Halloween and come back with an entire pillowcase full of candy.

Alright, I'm done with my rant.  If you have any children or younger siblings, show them what Halloween is all about: being able to be whatever you want to be for one night...that and having a tummy-ache the next day from all those Red Hots you ate the night before :)