It's time to terrify kids about the evils of candy

[violetyoshi]

I saw a clip on the news, about a dentist who's giving $1 per pound of candy turned in by kids. Of course, listing obesity, diabetes, as well as cavities, apparently he's also a doctor as well as a dentist!

I wonder why they have trick or treating anymore, when it's being manipulated to spread food fears to children.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

The main problem I have is that in most cases a pound of candy is worth well over $1. I wouldn't ever let my kids get ripped off by sell to this guy.

[blas87]

When I was a kid, I remember going trick or treating in the ritzier neighborhoods with the dentists and doctors, and without fail, the dentists always gave out toothbrushes.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

When I was a kid, I remember going trick or treating in the ritzier neighborhoods with the dentists and doctors, and without fail, the dentists always gave out toothbrushes.

You forgot to add "...that promptly got thrown in the trash"

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

When I was a kid, I remember going trick or treating in the ritzier neighborhoods with the dentists and doctors, and without fail, the dentists always gave out toothbrushes.

I always got king size candy bars and a packet of floss picks.

I was lucky I guess.

[Fryk]

In the neighborhoods I grew up in, the Giving of the Toothbrush was a ritual signifying that your house didn't have nearly enough eggs on the siding, and your lawn needed toilet paper.

[protege]

Fryk, that's usually what happened here. You give out stuff like that, and you're just asking to get your house TP'ed, your car vandalized, etc.

[AdminAssistant]

Fryk, that's usually what happened here. You give out stuff like that, and you're just asking to get your house TP'ed, your car vandalized, etc.

That's sad. Very little vandalism went on in my hometown during Halloween...although the school usually got the toilet paper treatment. And certainly not eggs, as my Dad would say, there's no sense in wasting food for the sake of a joke.

When I was a kid, every class would walk around to various businesses in town for "trick or treat". The dentist was always a stop, and if I remember right he handed out candy and little toothbrushes, which Mom would set aside to take on trips. Why would you throw away a free toothbrush? One of the banks (or was it the power company?) always set up a little "haunted house" that was soooo scary when I was, y'know, 6.

Living out in the country, that was really the only 'trick or treating' I ever got to do. Sometimes on Halloween night Mom might dress us up and drive around to people we knew, but that was it.

[Fryk]

And certainly not eggs, as my Dad would say, there's no sense in wasting food for the sake of a joke.

It's not a joke. It's a socio-political statement. :: P

[BlaqueKatt]

You give out stuff like that, and you're just asking to get your house TP'ed, your car vandalized, etc.

all I can say is that seems to be a whopping sized entitlement issue there....people don't have to spend their money to give out anything. Oh you gave me something out of the goodness of your heart that I don't like-here let me commit some property damage, even though I was not damaged/inconvenienced in any manner.... wonder how many of the kids that do this turn into the customers that throw things over return policies.....

[tropicsgoddess]

Fryk, that's usually what happened here. You give out stuff like that, and you're just asking to get your house TP'ed, your car vandalized, etc.

How about having their house egged too.

[Ree]

Ya know what bugs me about Halloween?

We spend 364 days a year warning our children to never accept candy from strangers, and then we march them around to homes of people we don't even know and encourage them to take candy from them.

I always found that odd.

[Anthony K. S.]

without fail, the dentists always gave out toothbrushes.

These are probably the same people who insisted on giving "practical" gifts like sweaters, socks, and underwear to children on Christmas . . . and then seriously could not understand why the kids didn't seem thrilled.


We certainly don't want to foster a sense of entitlement in children . . . We want our kids to understand that they should be grateful for gifts they get and that nobody is ever obligated to give them . . . And when and if children do act ungrateful, they should be disciplined for it.

And, for the record, I don't condone vandalizing people's property for any reason, nor do I think that anybody else here was ever condoning it.


With that said, one of my personal pet peeves has always been adults who expect children to look at things the way that adults do. Or, worse yet, adults who fail to realize that there is a difference between (1) what children want and (2) what adults believe that children should want.

Halloween, Christmas . . . For all their headaches, these are, to a large extent, still holidays for children, for children to have fun, and for children to be children.

So . . . What in the world is fun about brushing your teeth?

[jackfaire]

Ya know what bugs me about Halloween?

We spend 364 days a year warning our children to never accept candy from strangers, and then we march them around to homes of people we don't even know and encourage them to take candy from them.

I always found that odd.

My parents made sure I understood what the difference between me doing it alone without them and risking getting kidnapped vs them going around with me and then checking my candy thoroughly before I was allowed to eat it.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Funny; I always went out without parental guidence. Well, I had to stick with my brothers of course; we were not allowed to go out by ourselves. And we were never allowed to carry eggs; just silly string and flour, mainly. XD

I'm usually working at the time when the kiddies come round, but if I'm at home, I'll hand out treats to the kids who are costumed. Since all the kids round where I am go out with a parent in tow, there's no backlash if I refuse to give an uncostumed child a treat.

Once for example, this girl with her mother with her knocked on my door and said "Trick or treat." She was dressed in normal clothes; the only indication that she was trick or treating was the fact that she carried a bag with "Trick or Treat Bag" on it. I told her to go home and get changed, cuz I was not giving her sweets when she wasn't in costume.

Her mother then demanded to know why I was being so mean to her pwecious. I replied that since her daughter wasn't in costume, that made her a beggar and I didn't give anything to beggars.