Beware candy-wielding child molesters

11-8-2007 Applicable Anywhere:

know Halloween is supposed to be a "scary" time, but this holiday made me realize that our society has really got to move away from living in a constant state of fear.

Two weeks ago, I was watching a local news station when I saw that the upcoming story would be discussing what costumes were popular this year. It piqued my curiosity, so I stayed tuned through the commercial.

When the broadcast returned, the news anchor was standing outdoors with several costumes that were suspended. This is when I found out that the teaser for popular costumes had been misleading.

She gave some sort of lead about how Halloween is supposed to be fun, but what about when fire is thrown into the mix?

I wasn't really sure where she was going with that comment, until she took a lighter and began setting fire to all of the costumes.

Apparently, she was testing for flame retardant in the costume materials, but really, how did that scene look to the innocent flipper-through of channels? You're suddenly looking at a Spiderman costume and Hogwarts robe, as well as several others, going up in flames.

First of all, when in your childhood where you exposed to fires on Halloween? I don't know about you, but when I went trick-or-treating, I didn't have someone chasing me with a lighter, nor was I near a lit fireplace.

I understand that sometimes accidents happen, but come on. It was a pure panic technique. The sight of the costume that you may have bought for your child blazing on television? It's enough to scare any parent, regardless of the probability.

And of course, then came the "Are your children trick-or-treating at the door of a sex offender?" stories. Pathetic.

My parents took me trick-or-treating as a child. I didn't wander aimlessly door-to-door to strangers' homes begging for candy. I hope that most parents today at least know where they are taking their children.

But scaring parents into thinking that sex offenders will nab their child and run is ridiculous. Sex offenders probably aren't going to do anything to ruin their record more than it already is by molesting or kidnapping a child from their own doorstep.

I'm not being an apologist for sex offenders here. It just sickened me to see station after station, as well as news Web sites jump onto the "don't take your kid trick-or-treating or a big, bad sex offender will get them," band wagon.

These are only two examples of how ridiculous our society has become. Panic rules our nation, what with the constant barrage of a fear of terrorism from the government and media, as well as the other messages of fear we receive from different institutions. It's a wonder that any of us leave home anymore.

Please, for the sake of sanity and our generation, don't give in to those who spread panic. We'll all end up paranoid and miserable.

I'm not saying to throw caution to the wind. But do educate yourself thoroughly, and take responsibility for yourself and those that depend on you before making rash decisions.

Let's cross our fingers that the Thanksgiving turkey won't be dressed in a colony of E. coli.

Wait; don't tell the media I said that. I don't want to give them any ideas. ..more.. Opinion: Rebecca Walker