I had gotten a small telescope for Christmas or birthday that year and it came with an infographic poster all about Halley's Comet and I was super excited, then I promptly forgot all about it until several months after it passed. I'll have my redemption in 2061!
I suspect it would've been a disappointing experience with that cheap little telescope. I have a telescope now that's like 6-10 times the size and it's still impossible to find the comets that come by. I'm sure by 2061 I'll have a much larger one with computer controlled alignment and whatnot...
The title of the post incorrectly states that the comet would be at its aphelion (point of the orbit farthest from the Sun) today. Then it proceeds to talk about the comet being farthest from the Earth today. Two different claims, of which at least the former is wrong.
Edit: Both are wrong. Checked stellarium and the comet was farthest from Earth in June.