It’s October and time for Halloween! Widely celebrated every October 31, Halloween’s popular tradition is trick or treating. Children and teenagers in fancy costumes visit their neighbors to demand sweets (treats) and do pranks (tricks) if they don’t get any.

This British tradition dates back to the yearly All Souls Day during the Middle Ages. Poor people went door to door and begged for food.

The homeowner would give them a treat, and the poor would be thankful and promise to say a prayer for the dead.

The custom of wearing costumes came from Celtic traditions. The Celts wore fancy costumes, such as masks and white robes, to portray evil spirits. This tradition was unknown in America before the British and Irish emigrated to the New World. They brought their native traditions there in the 1880s, where trick or treat became part of the Halloween tradition.

Every country has their own way of saying “trick or treat”. In Ireland and Scotland, there is no trick, just a treat. Instead of demanding “Trick or treat!”, costumed children in Ireland and Scotland say “Apples or nuts for the Halloween party?” or “Help the Halloween Party!” or just “Anything for Halloween!” But since the cry “Trick or treat!” has become popular, children in those countries now say that as well. In Canada, children can simply shout out “Halloween!” instead. In some parts of the United States, children are expected to tell a joke before receiving treats from the house owner. In some countries including the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, children go around their neighborhood with homemade lanterns and sing songs before asking for treats. And there is a different custom in France: Children go store to store, not door to door.

Since the tradition is highly popular with kids the world over, UNICEF also organizes a Halloween campaign to raise money for unfortunate kids all over the world, especially in Africa.

Since it started 59 years ago, children have raised an estimated US $144 million to help less fortunate children. It works like this: Instead of asking for sweets and money for themselves on Halloween, children are expected to ask for money to help children in Rwanda and Malawi to go to school and have access to healthy food, clean water, and vaccinations against deadly diseases. UNICEF supplies special boxes for these donations. Then on Halloween, when you go door to door around your neighborhood, you ask for money and explain the
money goes straight to UNICEF to help underprivileged children around the world. And the demand goes like this:  “Trick or Treat ... for UNICEF!’ Once you’re done, you can send the money by mail or even online.

So let’s plan something this Halloween. We can have some fun while helping other kids have their treats.
 
*Denita Biyanda Utami - Grade 12, SMA Labschool Kebayoran, Jakarta