Trick-or-Trouble? Age and an old Halloween Tradition

 An ongoing question that adults and teens alike have been debating for what seems like forever is “should teens be allowed to go trick-or-treating?”.

  “I see them, but they’re not fully dressed like little kids. They’re just in sweatshirts walking around like with a mask on, trying to get candy. And like, you score free candy, but still put some effort into it, guys.” said freshman McKenzee Manlupig.

  Teens are seen as people who don’t like to fully participate in the costume aspect of Halloween, while some teens are very enthusiastic about the Halloween spirit. Most teens don’t put that much effort into their costumes if they even dress up at all. They’re also seen as people who like to cause trouble on Halloween; vandalizing, cursing around small children, and similar things.

  “I don’t think it’s a big deal as long as they {teenagers} are being respectful. As long as they’re not behaving in a way that would detract from the experience for the younger kids,” Chemistry teacher Cyrus Harshfield said.

  But are teenagers actually the destructive people that adults make them out to be? Or is it just the scary costumes that people don’t like?

  If a teenager dressed up as something that wasn’t scary I would be fine with them going trick-or-treating, said Gracie Walczyk, a 6-year-old.

  “Halloween’s a holiday. Like any holiday everybody should be out having fun, right? Everyone should be with the people they enjoy being with,” said Harshfield.

  Is there an actual “age” that people shouldn’t be allowed to trick-or-treat, or do people just not like the idea of teenagers participating in “childish” events.

  “[Society] thinks it is a little kid kind of thing, like a little kid activity cuz it’s cuter when you’re little, but once you’re a teen like you’re kind of adult and people think it’s childish.” said Manlupig.                                                                                               

  Some people think you should be able to trick-or-treat at any age, while others say “grandpa or grandma” is too old, and even then it would be okay as long as they were with kids.