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Dexter, Missouri ~ Friday, September 5, 2008
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No candy here!
Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007, at 10:25 AM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
Baltimore police are limiting sex offender contact with children during the upcoming Halloween holiday.
Sex offenders are urged to post a sign on their door that reads "No candy at this residence." They are also strongly urged to not leave their homes after 6 p.m. that night until the next morning, leave all their lights off and refuse to answer their doors. I say BRAVO! to those officers and members of the probation and parole office. This is a great way to make sure that children who still participate in door-to-door trick-or-treating are not entering the "zone" of a pedophile. Unfortunately, in today's society, trick-or-treating has become very dangerous. Not only do you have to watch for pedophiles, there are some out there who are sick enough to tamper with candy, apparently not caring that they may harm or kill an innocent child. Many churches and other organizations hold "safe zones" where children can go and play games and collect candy in an atmosphere with people who are not sick and deranged. Another great idea is to have a scavenger hunt for candy with your children or to hold a Halloween party for your child and their friends and simply distribute candy to them yourself. What are your ideas on Halloween? Any other suggestions out there to help keep kids safe this Halloween? Do you believe sex offenders in this county should be forced to post a sign on their front doors? Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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There are websites that give out addresses of sex offenders.It should be the parents responsibilty to look this up,because you are going into unknown areas.
If I had kids, I would want to know this info all the time, not just Halloween. When I was in school,we sold things for different fundraisers and some older people in Dexter acted creepy when you came to their door,maybe they were lonely,but they could have been a perv for all we knew.
I see adults taking infants out trick or treating,also teenagers. Is this necessary for a candy fix?
I support churches or groups having a party for young people in our town,the weather is really bad sometimes on Halloween,and we don't live in Mayberry.
Child rapists and killers have made door to door trick or treating something we should fondly remember in the past.
Maybe parents should know where their kids are going in the first place and not let their kids go to strangers homes on Halloween?
I agree with Charles - trick-or-treating should be a fond memory from the past. There are just too many weird, sick people out there. I like the idea of safe Halloween parties at churches and civic organizations.
One of my fondest memories from personal trick-or-treating was a neighbor lady who always gave out homemade popcorn balls. There's no way I'd let my kid eat that now unless I knew the person who made it.
A lot depends on the town where you live. In the small towns, where everybody knows everybody, trick or treating is still relatively safe - and, of course, the parents go with the smaller children.
As for the schools that have gotten rid of the tradition, I think that's sad. We teachers used to have as much fun as the kids when it was dress up time. Somewhere, I have a hilarious photo of a high school kid taking a test in his robot outfit. A werewolf sat in the chair next to him. Of course, I was usually in character as a witch... I was lecturing at the board one hour, and the principal came to the door, saw me, and just shook his head!
Ah....those were the days...
The dress up part is still ok in my book. Some of the people at my office do it with often hilarious (sometimes embarrassing) results. I once dressed up as a clown and applied for the job as a department head. The really scarey thing is that I was almost hired! We put Halloween candy out to be shared by others in the office. Dress up at school would be fun too. I bet you were the most popular witch at school, goat lady.
I've just never felt comfortable with the idea of kids begging for candy - much less that the candy could be tainted.
Have to totally agree with Charles on this one (Surprise, Charles!), and in a "kinder" manner than last time, I promise! Sad to say, but you're so right in that we don't live in Mayberry any more. I love what the schools in Dexer do with the "Trunk or Treat" activities. If all the kids would partake, there would be no need for the door-to-door trick-or-treating, which by the way gets very expensive if you live in an area populated by young children.
See, Charles, even this "old folk" can be civil and agree once in a while! And Charles01, please allow this to serve as an apology for my attack on your use of the language in an earlier note. I've come to realize, especially having read your response, that it's time I came to grips with the real world around me and caught up with the reality of things. So, although I likely will never apply it, I'll try to come to terms with accepting the computer jargon as a sign of the times and go with the flow, just as the generation before my own adjusted to "Pong" and bell bottoms!
Being a parent myself, I think that we should take the initiative to look up the registered sex offenders in our areas. I'm not sure how often those sites are updated, so I think as added protection, putting up signs should be mandatory. Especially on Halloween, when kids of all ages will be out running the streets. I know as a child trick-or-treating, the rule was, if the porch light is not on, don't stop there. I still use this rule when I take my children out on Halloween night. We participated in Dexter High School's Trunk or Treat for the first time last year. I think that is a wonderful idea, and my children loved seeing all the older kids dressed up and having fun.
On the other hand, I know that some older people enjoy having the children come to their doorstep, just so they can see the costumes. I would have to say that my biggest concern is not door to door trick or treating. Rather the ages of some of the kids still participating. I can understand children ages 1-12 or so participating But when you see kids that look 15 or 16 years old, IMO that is too old.
Okay - translation time, again! "IMO"?
Itchy mice overboard?
I munch oats?
in my opinion
Ah, of course! I think I've even heard that before, but it doesn't stick in my head. I must go back and check the online dictionary that Corey found for us awhile back....
Thank you Bringwine. I have been practicing with my comments-no IM shorthand. I am doing this to show respect to you and others who are not used to this form.
The Trunk or Treat is more fun I think,because you see so many people.
If you check the sex offenders website,there are not many neighborhoods without a rapist in them.
What if the person has never been convicted or even charged yet?
Think about this folks,who would ever want to go through what Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby went through?
I hope we don't have any Mike Devlin's in the area,but you don't know until it's too late-better safe than sorry!
The sex offender list is a broad list and does not necessarily list people that you should have a high concern about. Not that I approve of these people or have any sympathy for them, but I will not allow these people to ruin a tradition that I have very fond memories of. I will continue to give out candy on halloween and promote the participation of my grand children in the event. I had just as much concern when my children were out of sight for anything, including school, church, boy scouts, girl scouts, sporting activities or anything else. That is really no reason for me to prohibit them from doing these things though.
Mmm...It would be interesting to see just what a person has to do to make the sex offender list. Somehow, I don't think Wikipedia can help us with this...
Halloween and Christmas were the two most joyful days when I was a kid. The ridiculous part about Halloween's demise as a very special day for kids is that society is less violent today than it was in past decades. It only seems more dangerous today because of media fueled hysteria that a Boogeyman might be hiding behind the next bush.
GL, it doesn't take much to get on the sex registry. You can get an idea by reading the posters at the Post Office that provide notice of "sex offenders" in the area. One guy had to register as a sex offender for life because when he burglarized a house he happened to steal a women's nightgown!! Many other men (and yes women!) have to register for things as equally idiotic. I think that genuine sex predators of women and children are worse than murderers because they scar the soul of their victims for life. But labeling a person as a "sex offender" when they haven't done anything remotely comparable to a predator makes people unjustifiably afraid of them -- with the consequence that parents, teachers, etc. act like a stick in the mud and interfere with kids having a ball on Halloween.
What a bummer to get yourself labeled as a sex offender for something like stealing a nightgown! I would imagine that it's practically impossible to get yourself OFF the list, too!
Of course, the guy shouldn't have been burglarizing the house in the first place! What if he inadvertently found someone at home? He could really be in big trouble!
Get OFF the list??? Surely you jest GL. I'm sure it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone to get off any government bureaucracy's list!!
The tragedy of artificially inflating the sex registry list (apart from the catastrophic consequences it has for those individuals and their loved ones) is that it unjustifiably makes people afraid of their own shadow. One result of that is kid's are being deprived of fully experiencing some of the great joys of childhood.
Yeah, and it makes people afraid to reach out and touch each other. As a teacher, I was always a big believer in contact - a hand on a shoulder, a pat on the back. In today's society, that can get you in trouble!
You were saved by the bell GL! I recently read that the male tennis coach of a HS girl's team was fired simply because he took them out for pizza after a match and read them some of his poetry that expressed his eastern religious beliefs. There was no allegation that he ever had any contact with any student -- only that treating them to pizza and poetry was inappropriate conduct. A teacher like you would be roasted alive today for being a compassionate and caring human being!!
Do you think the percentage of sexual predators in society is actually any higher than it was fifty years ago or are we more aware?
I heard a good sermon a few years ago about sexual predators. Many years ago,pornography was only available to those who could either draw or afford "art". Then when movies started came "stag" movies which I think must be like strippers snd porno,but you had to go somewhere to see them,someplace decent persons didn't want to be seen. Then came 8mm movies and people could make and view movies in their own home,but they had to develop the film,I think was what the point was,it wasn't easily available.
With every tech advancement,that also lowers the bar for what "decent" people can and will be exposed to.
The biggest growth in the sex industry has been home VCR's and the internet.It is because "decent" people don't have to worry about being found out,society has few standards left,and if you are not into porn,you are uptight or weird if you are young.
The point is,people who wouldn't have had the nerve to go into the public to a XXX movie house or to a strip club,don't have to anymore-it's available 24/7 in their home. We have created this problem,and it's very easy to be addicted to porn,so although there has always been perverts and rapists,there are so many more now.
It's not tolerated like before,and victims are not so easily blamed anymore,that has changed for the better I think,but it still has a long way to go.
I am not sure what you are saying is totally accurate. Porn as you call it has been available for thousands of years. In many places it was carved in stone and placed in public display and it wasn't called porn because it was acceptable.
Our current attitude toward sex or porn as you have called it probably has its roots in the Victorian Age.
Perversions are only perversions because that is what we now label them. From a church and government point of view, I assume many things have always happened in the home that the church and government would label as perversion.
I doubt that there is anything happening now that hasn't happened for thousands of years. Perversion and porn are labels that change from time to time.
That being said, if children are involved that is a whole differnet story.