Kids Halloween Costumes: Too Much Too Early!

Halloween is considered the most theatrical and exciting occasion of the year, after-all this eve gives the free pass to adults and children to dress up as they want. With rapidly changing world, we have witnessed the dramatic turn in the Halloween costumes in recent year which has now become the active debate topic for conscious parents. Girls are nowadays more familiar with Kardishians than Disney princesses and it is no surprise they want to be in their clan by baring their bellies. The children Halloween costumes are getting too adult particularly girls costumes are getting skimpier year by year, some of the parents say that the costumes are getting so risqué and gory that they don’t want their kids to go out for trick and treating as they do not want to expose their children to over exposed sexuality in such tender age.

Instead of ghosts, ghouls, goblins, witches, Cinderella and Batman all you can see are sexy French maids, teen girls in skimpy cat suits and scanty cheerleader uniforms. the boys on other hand are going for more gory and violent characters and carrying toys weapons along with their costumes. This kind of dressing in young age is normalizing and integrating these concepts in their mind and society. This is the time when they learn about right and wrong and this is where the line between black and white starts to get blurry.

Some of the parents think that it is not such a big deal as it is just one day that the kid gets to decide who they want to be and that some of the parents are over-analyzing these costumes a bit too much. However, majority of the parents and child psychologists agree that exposing under-age kids to extreme violent characters and provocative dresses might influence their thinking of what is wrong and what is right.

Image source: Huff Post

The cat suits in this picture depict how much our society has transformed over the years- from the cat suit overalls and faux cat ears, we have gone to skinny leg baring cat suits which is looking more suggestive than animated. Sexualizing these characters unconsciously creates the concept of women objectification, which is the very root of many problems in our current society. It is teaching children to look in a certain way which is to look sexy rather than smart or creative.

Image source: Mumtastic

This gruesome zombie costume with faux hand prop is extremely inappropriate for boys. You might think it is just the recreation of regular zombies which is a pretty common Halloween character but the idea is not to introduce your kids to such extreme violence and slaughterous character at this age. Blood stained body parts will desensitize them towards human violence and pain which is will ultimately result in lack of empathy in future.

Image source: Huff Post

The legendary character of Dorothy from the iconic Wizard of the Oz was the go-to Halloween costumes for the girls in the past it is still one of the favorite Halloween Costumes but you as you can see in this picture the costumes has been completely altered. Long gone is the knee length flowy frock and twin braids with ribbons, deep neckline- inappropriately short skirt and panty hose is “Dorothy 2018”. The costume has completely crossed the line of animation and leaning more towards indecency.

The real question is how can you prevent your kids from getting too violent or provocative? Being a parent, you have the right to stop them what is wrong for them or can cause them harm in future. You can gently explain them why their outfit is inappropriate and how they can go for the same character but in an alternative outfit which does not surpass the limit of normalcy. You have to explain the difference between spooky and risqué to your children in a manner that they don’t feel constricted and restricted. There are tons of Halloween creative, spooky and age-appropriate costume ideas in retail and online stores and on the internet that you and your children can together look through. This will give them an option to select the dress according to their choice and you can see if the costume is suitable for your kid’s current age, you can recommend them other costume ideas by explaining them to go scary rather than explicit and murderous.

I hope this article will assist you to dress your children this Halloween appropriately with making them understand the basic morale values and disadvantages of sexual objectification and violence. Be creative and innovative when it comes to your costumes as the kids learn the most basic stuff from their parents. They are going to follow our footsteps so make sure that your costume is children appropriate as well. With that all said do not forget to use your saving coupons for Halloween shopping this year to get discounts and avail offers such as buy 1 get 1 free and free delivery on your purchase.

Comment below to let me know your views about modern children’s Halloween costumes? Do you think they are age appropriate or too much too soon?