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| Holiday Lane- Fort Thomas Ky |
Well, once again a lively discussion has ensued on our
Facebook page which I love to see!
The only downside is that this time, it was started by an event that
caused my son to burst into tears: the theft and subsequent smashing of the
pumpkins he had searched so hard for at Benton Farms (see Mama on a Budget
story for this, coming tomorrow).
I posted the picture of Holiday Ln. where dozens of pumpkins were
smashed in the road and asked “How do we stop this Fort Thomas tradition?”
As of this morning, there are 34 comments on this topic
ranging from “That’s hilarious” to suggestions to put tacks on the bottoms of
the pumpkins or “doggie doo doo” and the creation of new traditions such as one
reader who suggested Ft. Thomas celebrate a “pumpkin smashing day” after Halloween
and make it a fun and controlled event. There were also discussions about the need for
increased police patrol in October, knowing this is an issue and, quite
possibly most pointedly, cries for people to know where there kids were and
what they are doing.
It was a mix between some real rage and some who found
comedy in the situation.
Personally, I take issue with the fact that it is the theft and
destruction of property even if it is only intended by the thieves to be a
harmless prank. Additionally, it
does not make me feel safe to know that people are coming on to my porch and
stealing things from me.
This “tradition”, which we called “Cabbage Day” when we were
in high school, has been going on for more than a decade at least and I have
never seen any attempts at curbing this.
I enjoyed reading the suggestions about how to redirect the behavior in
a positive manner. To me, what was
most germane, was the question posed by several readers to the parents of those
who were doing the destruction (I am assuming it was bored teenagers): do you
know what your kids are doing?
As a society, it seems a lot of us have deviated from
parenting our children instead choosing to befriend and accommodate and indulge
them but as a community, I was hoping we were better than that. To me, “it takes a village” is not just
a turn of phrase but a call to action for a community to educate our young
people and raise them to make good decisions, not “harmless pranks” and “victimless
crimes” which actually reduce our even younger kids to tears.
6 comments:
Amen
Very well written & I totally agree!
love to see kids out smashing pumpkins hahahahaha this is great. the more you complain the more kids are going to do it. kids love when parents chase them down. it gives them a thrill
I think it is terrible when this happens, especially to families with young children. It is not funny at all. If teenagers want to do this, they should only do it on Cabbage night (October 30th) so that people know to put their pumpkins inside that night. That is how it was done when I was a kid. You knew that was the night and if you didn't want your pumpkins smashed, you took them in.
For you who think its funny, you must not have a young child. You wouldn't be laughing so hard if it was your child in tears. They really look forward to going out to the pumpkin patch every year and searching for just the right one. That gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. And for some young punk kid to do that is simply wrong. Nothing funny about it.
It is just for this reason that I delay our pumpkin search and cutting and only have them out on halloween proper. The bottom line, is that if we don't teach our kids that it is theft and destruction that we ARE teaching them that vandalizm is ok. Ask yourself...is it? I think if your car was keyed or your house was painted you would not find that to be funny. Children spend time selecting, designing and cutting pumkins, we celebrate their efforts every year with the pumpkin walk but then we let this behavior go unpunished. Mixed signals. Its a shame.
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