How Old is too Old for Trick or Treating?

    14? 15? 18? 25? How old is too old? In the spirit of Halloween, there has always been a saying you’re too old for trick or treating when you are in high school. But are you really? Halloween is often seen as a night for the littles, those gleeful and giddy princesses and superheroes who scamper through the neighborhood before dark, parents in tow.

For many grown Americans, Halloween is a time to remember the childhood joys of the primary tradition associated with the holiday trick-or-treating. It’s the memories of finding the perfect costume, getting the big chocolate bar from the generous lady on the block that every kid went to or even having your parents stuff a snowsuit underneath your vampire outfit to avoid freezing in the late October air that come back up this time of year.

      When I conducted an interview with Kaye Chan an Edison senior, when I asked her if she liked trick or treating? She replied she does like trick or treating especially when she goes with her friends. I then asked her why do you trick or treating? She said “I love the candy”. My final question to her was: do you believe there is a certain limit where you should stop trick or treating? She responded by saying “I think there is no age limit when it comes down to trick or treating. I feel if we are stopped from trick or treating the world is pushing us to grow up too fast.”

    To get another perspective I interviewed a substitute teacher, her name is Ms. Mohan. When I had asked her do you think teens should be trick or treating? She responded by saying she thinks teens can trick or treat if they acted appropriately, she further explained that teens seem “to go crazy” when Halloween rolls around. I asked her what age you think people should stop trick or treating. She say when they are sixteen years old they should stop trick or treating because it’s embarrassing.

         Two completely different perspectives on this issue. In some towns, teenagers making the rounds in search of a sugar fix on Halloween may be breaking the law. These towns, in Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia, ban children over the age of 12 from trick-or-treating. Is it that necessary to stop teens from trick or treating?