Trick or Treat · Thu Nov 2, 22:38 by Eleri Straker
It’s that time of year again: Halloween. The shops are full of orange and black festive “goodies” and the news is full of how yobs have hijacked the festival and used it to create havoc and misery. So, this morning, I wasn’t surprised to find the news full of the pain caused by kids dressed in ‘Scream’ masks frightening the elderly and damaging property. And the suggestion that the Trick or Treating should be banned. So when I faced my year 10 class I suggested that in their afternoon lesson (I see them twice in one day) they might like to do a speaking and listening exercise in the form of a class debate about that topic. As they are a top group I knew I could expect some decent argument.
And I wasn’t disappointed. At least, not in the quality of their argument and oral work. It was the content of their argument that bothered me.
As I’ve said, they’re a bright group with understanding beyond their years of many issues. However when it came to this topic, they were surprisingly unempathic. I offered them both sides of the argument then let them loose. One girl suggested that elderly people hiding in their homes with the lights off in case anyone called, was a serious overreaction. When I said that surely the fact that these people really are frightened should be enough reason not to do it, I was told that to ban Trick or Treating would be unfair on children who like to go to houses (of complete strangers!) for free sweets. So I asked why I should be coerced into buying sweets for the children of strangers in case the little darlings took their revenge on me by egging my house or damaging my car. I was told that it was only one day out of the year and that I was mean not to supply sweets for these children. When I pointed out that to demand “treats” with the implied threat of retaliation if the sweets didn’t appear, seemed rather like begging with menaces, the student gave me a puzzled, rather pitying look as if I’d completely lost the plot.
I was rather dismayed by this girl’s reaction, as not only was it echoed by a great many others in the class, it also seemed to me that it reflected a general “the world owes me” attitude that I had hoped this high ability group had managed to avoid.
Trick or Treat may have nothing to do with schools, but it does have something to do with education. As an English teacher I feel, that what I do in the classroom should have some effect on the lives of my students when they leave. Part of being an English teacher surely, is to encourage the development of empathy and understanding. What’s the point of studying the greatest creative mind ever (sorry Leonardo, but to a student of literature, Will takes first place!) if the students learn nothing from his humanity and understanding?
I like my year 10 group, but I think that I have my work cut out if they are to grow into thoughtful and caring adults. I know you could say that they are just kids, and yes, they are. But they are also the future ‘elite’ of society, the ones with the brains and hopefully, the university education to enable them to get decent and possibly influential jobs. And as far as I’m concerned, that education starts now.
