One can argue about whether the US import of additional " bank holidays " makes sense. I always thought it was nonsense and superfluous. But halloween also became fashion here in Germany when our kids were little. That was 20+ years ago. And they loved to celebrate it. It was child-friendly ghost stuff. I have accepted that the children had celebrated it very gladly, together with friends somewhere else or all with us stay overnight etc..
The child's psyche functions differently from that of adults. The defense mechanisms (described by Anna Freud) that ultimately form the ego structure are gradually learnt and developed in their interaction. The little child denies something, for example. Later it doesn't do that anymore. It transforms this mechanism of denial into something else, e.g. discomfort. The ability to learn to live with uncomfortable things. Ability to compromise. If it would continue to deny and not come to an arrangement, it would be the preliminary stage of a psychosis. But on the other hand it must live through these phases. Many "cruel" contents and stories belong to the child's psyche. That's why children like fairy tales so much. But how much one makes the stories or films or disguises explicit is the responsibility of parents and adults in general. Even without being a psychologist, most people have a very good sense of what a child "needs" and "doesn't need" depending on their age.
But these photos in Bonesie's link are far beyond any decency and any healthy measure. It's disgusting and I believe that the worst perversion psychotic adults can have is cobbled to children and their world. This is no longer ok but perverse and actually very criminal.
