As Halloween comes closer, students are thinking about what costume to wear or what candy to buy they can buy at a discounted price after the holiday has passed. What seems to get overlooked every time the holiday comes around, is the people that don’t celebrate it.

Most think of Halloween as a day to dress up and get candy for free. After all, the money spent on candy and costumes in 2015 was around $6.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Halloween is often just seen as a holiday where money is spent on candy. But there are people who simply don’t see it as such.

There are various reasons as to why someone might choose not to celebrate Halloween, including religious reasons. Senior Katelyn Tanner said, “I’m a Protestant Christian, and in my religion, Halloween is seen to be a very demonic, evil and dark celebration”.

Tanner isn’t the only one who sees the holiday in such a manner; many Christians see it as a form of celebrating Satan. Although this doesn’t subject all Christians to have the same views.

It seems to be hard to go through life without some participation in Halloween. However, there are people who don’t participate in the holiday in anyway, some will simply not open the door for the kids that go trick-or-treating.

Tanner and her family choose to go to movies that don’t touch on the subject of Halloween. “During Halloween, at least on the day, my sister and I pass out candy to trick-or-treaters and watch Christmas or Marvel movies,” said Tanner.

While there are some that eventually celebrate the holiday as they are older, there are also some that never want to celebrate the holiday. Since they grow up with not celebrating it, they don’t have a want to celebrate it as they’ve grown up.

Some people that do celebrate the holiday are quick to judge those who don’t. However, it’s small things like this that make us all unique.

Respecting what others choose to do on this day is important, because it helps to create an open environment. Tanner states that she feels as if her friends respect her decision and don’t judge her for not being able to participate in Halloween related activities.

There are other activities that one could do when being around someone that doesn’t celebrate Halloween. From simply hanging out to seeing a movie, it can help that person feel more welcomed.

Regardless on how you choose to spend your time on October 31st, keep in mind that there will be people who don’t participate in the same activities, and that is completely fine.