Halloween.

[Homer55]

Trick or Treating.....Good time for the kids or modern day begging?

[vehelpfulguy]

Neither, just a chance for supermarkets and other shops to sell a load of overpriced halloween tak.

[johnlambert]

Lets give it it's proper name, under the law it's called "demanding with menaces", or "threatening behavior"
bah humbug

[yassa]

Ban it and the sale of fireworks. It drives me crazy, it's october and the nightly firework displays have started and wont finish until January. And the supermaket thing is true and demanding with menaces is!

[shaneystar2]

Another american import which we do badly and they do properly.I hate it and it's just another way for shops to sell overpriced rubbish .I have no objections to people having Halloween parties in their own homes but when they knock on my door I get the hump. Who in their right mind lets their kids knock on strangers doors anyway.All the local thugs jump on the bandwagon and last year because I refused to answer the door they pelted my sons car with flour and eggs .
Ditto ..bah Humbug and please don't get me started on bl&&dy fireworks .

[Tatty Rollox]

... and here is some flour and some eggs ...

[gasman]

Just a chance to go begging. Then they spend the rest of the year shouting abuse and hanging around, been up to no good. I certainley will not let my kids go begging when they are old enough

[poorclare]

I have been tortured for the past month (every night)
with fireworks been thrown in my porch, 4.15AM
one one occasion.

[koolkid]

my children have never been allowed to go trick or treating as i feel it is as previously stated an offence. my children are now teenagers and want to go with their friends. once again i am the bad parent who won't let them have fun!
Do i care? No

[Stu in USA]

Nearly all Halloween traditions can be traced back to pre-Christian European times. So it's not an "American import". Yes it is begging, but so is "penny for the guy" a much more recent tradition.

[snodhutch]

My children are now 22, 20 and 18 and I have never allowed them to go trick and treating. I used to be a carer for the elderly and the fear they endure during this time of the year is intolerable due to children knocking on their doors at all hours. Yes it is begging and should be outlawed. At least penny for the guy, which again my children never did but as I child I have to confess i did, is less threatening but is also begging and should be stopped in this day and age. The sale of fireworks except for organised displays should also be stopped in my opinion