Some of the best Halloween experiences often fall on years when the holiday lands on a weekend. Everyone gets to stay out later and spend the whole day trick-or-treating. This usually means more candy, more scares and more fun for all involved. By the end of it, those who celebrate usually wind up wishing the spooky festivities could fall on a Saturday every year.
Now, it’s starting to look like those people might finally get what they want. A new petition to move Halloween to a Saturday permanently has started to gain traction online, amassing over 75,000 signatures and counting thus far. The goal is to get the holiday changed so that kids can enjoy more fun in a much safer environment.
To illustrate their point, the creators of this entreaty rattled off several unverified statistics about everyone’s favorite October day, and they read as so:
- 3,800 Halloween-related injuries occur on a yearly basis.
- 82% of parents don’t use high visibility aids on their costume.
- 63% of children don’t carry a flashlight while they are trick-or-treating.
- Children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween.
- Nearly two-thirds of parents don’t discuss Halloween safety with their kids.
- 70% of parents don’t accompany their children trick-or-treating.
It’s unclear where these numbers are coming from, but they’re definitely alarming if there’s any truth any of them. The originators of this petition are hoping that moving the holiday to a weekend will help some of these stats drop. Since most people don’t work or have school on Saturdays, most of the trick-or-treating will likely happen in the day. This should help kids stay safe, as motorists will be able to better see children darting in and out of the road in broad daylight.
Real change doesn’t seem promising as of right now, though, as online petitions are rarely taken seriously nowadays. Then again, the federal government has responded to one particularly popular viral entreaty this year. If this one really starts to pick up steam, then they might have no choice other than to consider it.
Halloween isn’t on any fixed day as of this year, but that could be subject to change. As such, we advise that you stay tuned for more news as it breaks pertaining to this interesting development, which could potentially lead to a big outcome for those who love the late October holiday.
