Halloween Is Unstoppable Even During A Pandemic
By: Nojhat Miah
One reason October is one of the best months of the year is not because it's fall season but because the 31st of October is Halloween, the spookiest day to dress up as anything, go trick or treating, give out candy, and have fun with your family and friends. On a normal Halloween, we have to be cautious since people wear masks, you don’t know their identity and you get candy from strangers. However, especially now, in a whole pandemic, we have to be a little bit more safe to avoid Covid. Right now in Pennsylvania there is 3,114 Covid cases not too bad compared to other states, I feel Pennsylvania is doing pretty good with Covid the amount of cases keeps increasing and decreasing but it's more so decreasing now. We just hope it keeps decreasing as 2021 is coming to end and 2022 is just around the corner.
Every parent is probably asking themselves if Halloween is safe to go trick or treating. Parents don’t want their kids coming back not feeling well. However, some parents, like Christina Puntel, a 7th grade teacher at Carver, believe Halloween can be possible this year if we follow the Covid rules.
“Now Halloween is a time when people usually wear masks, you know and it seems to be like a natural time when we would have masks and we would try to keep each other safe,” Puntel said. “It's outside right, usually you travel only with people you know or you might pass other groups along the way. But mostly you can keep distance.”
But what about the people giving out the candy? What can they do to make it safe? Mr. Lick, another parent and teacher at Carver suggested making a shoot, so no one would have to come close to houses to get candy.
“I saw people that had stairs up to their house had a big PVC pipe and they sat on their porch,” Lick said. “And when the kids came to the bottom of the stairs they put the candy in the pipe like kind of like a shoot and it came down to them, it was like fun for them but also a safe way to do it.”
A lot of people don't even want to go outside and want to celebrate Halloween at home. Ms.Puntel’s husband came up with a great activity for their children during Halloween last year that let them stay home but still have some fun.
“He let them pick out one type of candy that they each wanted,” Puntel said. “And then he made bags for them, and he hid them around, like a scavenger hunt so they could find them.”
Ms. Curless had another great activity that people any age can do at home: a zoom party with your friends or family members! You can chat, eat together, and you can do activities. Even though you're not in-person, this is a way you can feel as if they are right there with people you love.
“Send everyone on your invite list a shopping list or send them a package that has an activity like pumpkin carving, cookie decorating, or something else Halloween themed and have a Zoom party!” Curless said.