Teens Too Old To Trick Or Treat . . . or keep reading for Chase’s side of the story

Avery: The exhilarating rush that courses through your veins as you run up the steps to a strangers’ house to yell “Trick or Treat!” is probably the best part of Halloween. That, and getting sick by eating buckets and buckets of Halloween candy. Every year, kids run from door to door dressed up in the cutest little costumes to try and get as much candy as they possibly can. The problem is that when your front door opens to a teenager in a costume three sizes too small, it seems a little bit ridiculous. At what point do you stop trick or treating? When does the excitement of staying out until nine o’clock asking people for candy finally wear off?

“I think that there’s a time when no adult wants to see some teenager dressed in a lame costume standing at their door asking for candy. The candy is bought for little kids, so why waste it on a bunch of teenagers,” Sophomore Tim Pemberton said.

Teens are also able to get candy basically whenever they want. When you’re six years old, candy is a rare treat. When you’re 12, it’s something you can walk to the local store and buy in a heartbeat. Most teenagers want to have as much freedom as they can. When you’re walking around the neighborhood with six toddlers following behind you, it isn’t exactly the most mature environment. Although trick or treating is a fun experience, it isn’t something people should continue to participate in past their childhood years.

“I know we all like to be crazy and I still love candy as much as any person, but I have a little bit too much dignity to walk around asking other people for it. There’s a lot of other ways to enjoy Halloween, like haunted houses or Halloween parties. That’s where teens should be on Halloween night, not knocking on every door in the neighborhood,” Pemberton said.

Not only is it strange to be trick or treating as a teen, but it could be taking away some of the delight for some of the little kids. Nobody wants to let their little kids see teenage girls dressed in skimpy skirts and overly-tight shirts, or teenage boys dressed in stupid costumes that like to run around scaring people. It’s supposed to be a night of fun, not horror. I think there’s a point when it’s almost embarrassing to yell “Trick or Treat!” and see the awkward expression form on the adults’ face as they toss some candy into your pillowcase.

“I’d feel too weird still going trick or treating… it doesn’t seem natural to do when you’re a teenager,” Sophomore Maria Rana said.

In the end, it’s every person’s choice. The opinions will always vary. However, people would mostly agree that there should be a general age limit for trick or treating. Just like people grow out of sippy cups and footy pajamas, they grow out of trick or treating. It may be a difficult transition to accept that you’re finally growing up, but it’s worth it. The years ahead will make up for those Halloween nights you still feel a tiny longing to go trick or treating just one more time.

“It was fun when I was little, but the excitement wore off when I got older. I don’t see the point of spending time and money to go trick or treating when it’s not even fun anymore,” Rana said.

Want to Trick or Treat? Go For it.

Chase: With Halloween just around the corner, people are asking themselves a lot of questions.  What should I wear? Who should I hang out with? And the usual question: am I too old to trick or treat?

If you want to go trick or treating, I say go for it. It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you’re an 18 year old senior in high school, and you want to dress up as a fairy and knock on doors asking for candy, more power to you.

I don’t go trick or treating, but I don’t see why someone can’t dress up for Halloween just because of their age. Because what’s stopping them? It’s not like there’s some Halloween age limit. What’s wrong with wanting to be a kid again?

It’s sort of a live and let live type of thing. It doesn’t hurt you at all if someone your age or older is trick or treating. You don’t have to give them as much candy as you give to little kids.

Trick or treating is for everybody, and should be enjoyed by everybody. Some of our greatest childhood memories are from Halloween, and we should be able to re-live those experiences. When you go trick or treating you remember all the great things that have happened on that day. The fun you had with your friends as a little kid, and the great times you had with your family.

Why should it be left up to an age limit to have fun? Why do we have to wait until we have kids to re-live those great memories? We shouldn’t! Halloween is about being able to forget everything that you have going on and be as old as you want to. If you don’t want to go trick or treating, then great. Do something else. But if you want to go trick or treating you should be able to, and it shouldn’t matter how old you are.

Trick or treating is a childish thing to do and that’s what is so great about it. It’s great that no matter how old you are you can enjoy the most childish thing that there is. And it’s great that we can even as high schoolers, we can go out on one night and be as childish as we want, and that shouldn’t be taken away.

When you get into high school, you all of a sudden are looked at as a young adult. You have more responsibility, more homework and school becomes about ten times as hard. When Halloween comes around, that is one night that we get to forget about just about everything that is going on with school, and we can have fun.