Halloween Trends Affect Students Relationships and Behaviors

By Annie Tian

February 6, 2025

On Halloween, students at Jericho Middle School displayed a variety of costumes that followed popular trends.

Unlike some other schools, Halloween at Jericho Middle School does not directly impact students' school schedules. While students are welcome to dress up, there are no specific special events dedicated to this holiday. This year, Halloween was part of a Spirit Week: a week in which students dress up according to different prompts—such as pajamas—in order to raise awareness for important issues. This time, Red Ribbon Spirit Week highlighted staying away from drugs.

Based on an optional survey given to Jericho Middle School students, a significant number of students chose to wear costumes. 58.8% of students wore a costume before and after school, 25% wore a costume only after school, 2.8% wore a costume only at school, and 13.9% did not wear a costume at all. Many teachers decided to also hand out candies or other treats to their students. Some teachers, such as Ms. Scalera—who handed out white out tape—decided to stay on brand with the subject they taught.

Overall, Halloween is a great holiday that can bring the community together. It grants students a chance to express themselves and their creativity through their costumes without the risk of being judged for their stylistic choices. This ultimately shines through despite the trends: although multiple people may dress as a vampire, their exact outfits will never be the same. Halloween also provides a chance for once-strangers to form friendships over mutual interests that previously never had a chance to be showcased. At Jericho, some teachers also use the opportunity to create educational connections. It also provides friends a chance to grow closer through group costumes.

Mrs. Travis decided to be part of a group costume, dressing up as an American Girl Doll with some of her fellow social studies teachers. She explained that this costume was chosen after careful research of costumes that applied to their subject. She also expressed the connection that people often have with their costumes: “Growing up, I had the Samantha doll and actually named one of my daughters Samantha.” In terms of popular costumes throughout her classes, Mrs. Travis also said that she saw many of her students in “really funny inflatable costumes”. Students most likely agree with Mrs. Travis that these types of costumes are funny, as they have been seen throughout the school for years.

The Halloween festivities continued after school, with trick-or-treating throughout the neighborhood. Unfortunately, there were also reports that children ignored signs near candy bowls that stated a limit and took far beyond that. This unfairly robbed children who showed up afterwards not only of the opportunity to get candy, but also the fun of trick-or-treating. Catherine Liu, an eighth grader at Jericho Middle School, recounted her personal experience: “After only ten minutes of the candy being out, all of it was gone, save for a single piece of candy outside the wrapper,” she remembered. She had painstakingly picked out what she considered the best candy in order to provide the best experience for trick-or-treaters, only for this to happen.

Although costume trends will continue to change each year, one thing is for certain: students will continue to find creative ways to express themselves and bond with their peers each Halloween.