As adults, we often make decisions that affect children. However, do they really have the interest of children in mind, when we make them? Or, do they make sense?

For example, I went to Dayton Daily News and found out “Trick or Treat” or “Beggars Night” is Thursday, Oct. 30, 6-8 pm. and not on Halloween day.

Beggars Night? I beg to differ. Do we change the days we participate in events for Christmas, Easter, Valentines, Thanksgiving…? What is wrong with celebrating (Trick or Treat) on Halloween proper? I hear you; it is not safe, etc. etc…. However, the day is irrelevant as to safety etc...

Why do we feel it necessary to change when children participate in Halloween activities?

When we were little we looked forward to Halloween whatever actual day it fell on and had fun. We waited until dark and we went until we were too tired to continue.

Where did the name Beggars’ Night come from and why? Why did adults decided that there should be a new time or day? Why? What was wrong with the way it was originally?

“Beggars Night or more properly Beggars' Night, is a regional term for what is referred to in most parts of the United States as "Trick or Treat." Specifically, the term is broadly but not exclusively used throughout Ohio, in many parts of Iowa, and in some cities in Massachusetts.

In general, Beggars Night represents the "treat" portion of Trick or Treat, where children in costume make evening rounds of homes (and to a lesser extent to businesses during the day) and are given candy. This being closely tied to, but distinct from Halloween, when various forms of mischief may occur.

The night has usually been scheduled by municipal governments on a date prior to the actual Halloween date of October 31. In recent years however, the trend has been towards having it on Halloween, and the use of the term has been slightly diminished because of the loss of the distinction from the date of Halloween.”

Really! If children are going to participate in mischief, moving the day or renaming it is not going to change that. Whether or not children engage in mischief is driven more by values and behaviors that are modeled to them by adults and their peers, not the days of the week that activities are scheduled for them.

Sometimes the decisions we make regarding children or why we make them can be downright spooky.

My point is that it has always bothered me that we have to change something for some adult whim that may not have rational reasons. Yet we will avoid making decisions that have a real impact on or for children.

What are your thoughts? Share your perspective (in the "Discussion Forums" on some of the decisions adults make regarding children. Do they really make sense? How or why are some of these decisions made?