Nobody ever gets too old to celebrate Halloween. It is a day that most young adults and even some older adults look forward to even more than Christmas. Halloween is a day that you can let go of your normal life’s routine and be somebody or in some cases, something else. The one big difference about Halloween that comes with age is what people look forward to. Today, adults look forward to hanging out with close friends and having a meal and a couple drinks but when we were all younger, we went to sleep on October 30th thinking about only one thing; candy. Even though candy is cheap, it may become very expensive with its long-term effect. It is a major cause of cavities in children but as Dr. Anne Wilson, a pediatric dentist said, “letting kids have a one-time candy binge is a small offense to enamel.” One major scare for young children is that certain hard candies can fracture teeth, and other sticky candies may keep sugar in the mouth much long after the candy is eaten. No matter what type of candy the kids eat, they need to remember and be reminded by their parents to brush, floss, and used mouthwash everyday and especially after eating candy. Many dentists are doing all they can to try and keep kids from eating candy, even if it takes bribing them with money. Dr. Kurt Black and Dr.’s Eli Jackson and Brad Graham are promising 1 dollar for every pound of candy. Some dentists are even going to ship all that candy to the troops overseas. Last year, Dr. Black collected more than 200 pounds in candy. 
I think that the doctors exchanging money for candy is a wonderful idea. Not only does it keep the kids from eating excess candy, which can damage teeth but also the kids get money, which they can use for anything they would want. I do not agree with Dr. Anne Wilson and her statement that “letting kids have a one-time candy binge is a small offense on enamel” because that one time candy binge might get them hooked on certain candies which they could become addicted to and from Halloween on constantly have candy. Then what was a small offense on enamel may turn into a childhood of tooth ache and cavities after which the child might stop eating candy but they may also be stubborn and have no regard for their teeth as they continue to eat as much candy as they can.
1 comment:
I found your post to be very informative concerning possible alternatives to consuming the vast quantities of candy given away every Halloween. You showcase the doctors in Kentucky who are offering $1 for every pound of candy brought in by children, and then are planning on shipping it overseas to our troops. I think this is an amazing idea, and completely agree with you that this is a good course of action. While I remember lusting after the bag full of candy I received every Halloween as a child, I think I would’ve preferred money over the candy even at that age. Children do need an incentive, and something as small as a dollar per pound of candy is an easy way to keep kids eating healthy and protect them from the dangers that await from eating excessive amounts of sugar. Like you said in your post, “it may become very expensive with its long-term effect.” Protecting the children now from pain that they could receive later in life is a concept that needs to be adopted by parents and dentists across the country, because like you stated, a one-time binge could turn into a lifetime of cavities and seemingly never-ending dentist appointments. Overall, I thought your post was very well thought out and provided the reader with a firm stance on to what should be done in order to save children from future pain that could have easily been avoided.
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