As night approaches on the eve of November, children all over the country put on costumes, grab their pillowcases, and descend upon the porches of their neighborhood asking for free candy. This tradition has become commonly known as Halloween and has been beloved by Americans for decades.

Halloween, however, has not been as well respected as other holidays that are just as celebrated, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Both these holidays are deemed important enough to give students days off leading up to and even after the holiday occurs. Why not Halloween?

“Everyone celebrates Halloween. I’ve never understood why the county doesn’t realize that,” junior Mason Munoz said.

Children, especially elementary school students, usually stay out later than they normally would on a regular school night due to the holiday. Thus, their regular routine becomes disturbed, and the children suffer from it in the form of their schoolwork.

“When my little brother was in elementary school, he would always get back from trick-or-treating really late, sometimes like 10 p.m.,” Munoz said. “That’s when he usually went to sleep, so my mom always complained about him having school the next day.”

A major reason as to why Halloween is not given as much respect as it deserves from the school board is due to the lack of religious and familial traditions that Thanksgiving and Christmas both have. However, this should not serve as an excuse as to why Halloween is not given the following day off.

“While Halloween isn’t really a religious holiday, it’s still time to hang out with friends and family and it should be treated just like any other important holiday,” junior Lexi Russo said.

High schoolers suffer the most from the lack of a day off after Halloween. For many of them, teenagers stay out, party, and take a break from schoolwork. According to the Nationwide Children’s hospital, teenagers require 9 and a half hours of sleep a night, and Halloween surely does not encourage turning in early. This can start to seriously affect high schoolers’ mental health and their natural sleep schedule.

Overall, even though it can occur in the middle of the school week, Halloween is still a massively respected holiday by the people of the United States. All students are asking for is one day off in a month full of complete school weeks and seemingly no extra days off. With seemingly no negative effects on the school system and only positive gains for students, November 1 should always be given off to children all over the country.

If you would like to read about student attempts across the country to get Nov 1 off, check out the article below!

https://fox8.com/2019/10/30/children-across-the-country-launch-petitions-for-day-off-after-halloween/