Are Teenagers Too Old to Go Trick-or-Treating?

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Should teenagers be allowed to go trick-or-treating? The Raider Wire Staff offers their opinions on this puzzling question.

Raider Wire Staff, Staff

Holley Murray

The truth is that there is only so much candy to go around. As fun as it may be for everyone to dress up in exciting costumes and collect bags full of sweets, there comes a time when the tradition must be abandoned to pass the torch on to next generations. Halloween is for the “aw” feeling when a band of cute little vampires, zombies, and Spider-Men show up on your doorstep smiling sweetly and asking for treats. This warm and happy feeling is practically ruined when the little kids are replaced by greasy, sweaty teenagers often not wearing enough clothes (or deodorant) for late October.  It is our responsibility as young adults to sacrifice the free candy in exchange for the freedoms of adulthood while leaving the fun to be had by the younger children. We can have fun on our own; a 5-pound bag of Twizzlers is less than 9 dollars, guys.

 

Anna Anglin

I say you should be able to participate in anything you want as long as it’s not harming anyone. Society puts these weird expiration dates on when we should stop doing certain things, trick or treating is one of them. The law says that people under 18 are children, so why should we be excluded from the innocent fun of Halloween? If you are a fellow teenager I say trick or treat as much as your heart desires!

 

Kana Mullee

I believe that teenagers are not too old to go trick or treating. While many people believe that when you get into high school you should not be going trick or treating I would heavily disagree. Just because a teenager is in high school doesn’t mean that they are automatically an adult. Teens should be able to enjoy their last few years as a kid having fun before they have to go off to college and become an actual adult. Many teens enjoy going around with their friends getting candy from neighbors and dressing up rather than going to parties where there is a high possibility of there being drugs or alcohol which could cause them to be in very big trouble. Personally, I really enjoy going trick or treating with my friends, especially since this is my first year of high school. I plan to dress up and go around trick or treating with them this year as well because I know when I go off to college I’m not going to be able to anymore and I’ll really miss it. So, if you want to go trick or treating as a highschooler, go ahead. As long as you don’t cause any trouble you can have a really fun time! Plus, getting free candy is always a good thing.

 

Emily Stocksdale

Personally, I think that anyone who is not yet a legal adult and who wants to trick-or-treat should be allowed to do so. This is a relatively harmless activity, and though personal experience has taught me that trick-or-treating as a teenager will result in a lot of weird looks and nosy neighbors asking, “Aren’t you a little too old for this?”, I still say that any teenager who is willing to dress up and go around trick-or-treating should be allowed to do so, given that the teenager remains courteous and respectful, and does not do anything to disrupt the fun of younger children in any way. Overall, this is a fun and traditional American activity which we should all be able to take part in, regardless of how old we are. And for anyone saying that candy should be left to the younger kids, teenagers are likely to go trick-or-treating much later in the evening than most of the small children, so the teenagers will likely be getting the remnants of candy. Teenagers who follow the rules of trick-or-treating respectfully do not make much of an impact overall, or at least not one to complain about, in my opinion.

 

Sallie Kate Worley

I hate to be the bad guy here, but let us be real. At our wise age of 14-18, we can now see the truth. The candy is not phenomenal, the costumes are either marked up t-shirts or, well, a bit light and tight, if you know what I’m saying, and the little ones, the ones this tradition was made for, are missing out because *insert immature student’s name* and his gang think scaring them is so hilarious. Open your eyes, North Forsyth, because you have grown up a bit since your Power Rangers days. If you have a younger sibling or friend, be an escort. If not, hand candy out from your door, and get a chance to see all the excitement in the kids that knock. In the end, we need to leave the streets clear and clean for the kids.

 

Blaise Rayburn

Teenagers are definitely not too old to trick or treat. Will, I will be trick or treating myself? No. But I’ll defend other hooligans my age’s rights to get candy and cause mischief on the best holiday of the year.

 

Cassidee Jackson

Honestly speaking, teenagers are too old to be trick or treating due to the fact that teenagers are maturing to be adults. Therefore, the gore, spiders, and costumes are meant to scare small children who can’t tell decipher the fakery from reality. In addition to that, parents typically give smaller children in elementary and middle school more candy to make them happier; however, teenagers typically get a small amount of candy–speaking from anecdotal experience. Lastly, speaking in a realistic light, the nicer costumes cost over $35 and may go up to $110. Does a teenager that has to pay for textbooks, AP classes, school supplies, etc really want to splurge on something that doesn’t really help them in the long run? Is it really worth it?

 

Cynda Allen

From my point of view, I feel like by at least 13, teens should stop trick or treating. I feel this way because when middle school children move up into high school they are supposed to start growing up. Also when you’re a teenager, you should be more focused on going to Halloween Parties or binging your favorite horror movies (solo or accommodated by a companion.) There is no shame doing cool makeup looks or outfits, though. I myself love gore-ish face effects as well as cute costumes, but use that to go to a get together rather than walking around in your neighborhood with smaller children half your age.

 

Marvin Cruz

Teenagers, in my opinion, are both too old and not old enough to stop trick or treating. Halloween is supposedly a holiday where people get to dress up as their favorite characters and go and get candy. Teenagers are not old enough to stop dressing up for Halloween but for actually going up to other people’s houses and getting candy they are too old in that regard. So for the question of if teens are too old or not, no they are not too old.

 

Olivia Roberts

I don’t think they are too old, Halloween is for everyone, it shouldn’t stop just because you grow up. Teenagers should be able to dress up if they want too. Halloween is all about getting candy and having fun with your family and friends. Halloween isn’t much fun without a fun outfit. Dressing up is so much fun and Halloween is the only day in the year would it’s ok to be whoever you want to be. We should have the right to enjoy this wonderful holiday and get candy.

 

Jordan Fowler

I don’t think teenagers are too old to go trick-or-treating because I feel like teenagers need to have fun while they are still young. I do believe that as teenagers get to be 18 or 19 since they are technically adults,  they should stop going trick-or-treating because they should let the younger kids have a chance to get candy and have fun. But I do think that teenagers should just live and have fun while their young on Halloween.

 

Bella Angell

I do not believe that teenagers are too old to go trick-or-treating; however, I think they should go later than younger kids. Teenagers have already had opportunities to go house to house to collect candy, but younger kids have not as they are still in their early childhood. Halloween only comes once every year and I believe both teenagers and children should be able to participate.

 

Carena Ravenel

Here’s the thing about trick-or-treating, it’s fun! Why does it really matter whether teenagers are too old to go trick-or-treating? Did you know that somewhere in the world there is some old man who decided he wanted to be a six-year-old girl? If you don’t, believe me, I’ll put a link at the bottom of my paragraph. It’s scary, sad, and now what we call “normal.” So why does everyone think that it is somehow wrong that teenagers want to dress up for one night to accept candy from their neighbors? And honestly, seeing teenagers trick-or-treating is better than seeing teenagers vandalize a house or get into serious trouble. So no, teenagers are never too old to stop trick-or-treating. If you’re a lonely forty year old partaking in the tradition, then, yeah it’s a little weird. We are still labeled as kids until we are about twenty, so might as well live up to the label and continue being a kid until society deems us an adult.

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Melina Vergilis

Halloween is the one time of year that it is acceptable for strangers to dress up as a way to express themselves and knock on doors to collect candy. I believe that teenagers should still be able to trick or treat and dress up. If you’re a candy lover like me, then Halloween is your time to shine. Why would I sit at my door and watch little kids who probably cannot even eat solid foods yet, steal perfectly good candy? Teenagers should definitely not be judged by parents or neighbors for wanting to be included in the fun.

 

Grace Wood

Halloween is the perfect excuse to dress up however you want without anyone blinking an eye. However, when is it time to stop trick or treating without being judged? I personally have not gone trick or treating in two years, and there comes a time where you just got to let the little kids just do it. The candy is not even that great to be honest, because once you get through all the Butter Fingers, M&M’s, Reese’s, etc., you just left with a bunch of cheap hard candies. A good hand full of teens have jobs anyway, so they can buy their own candy. Although, if my friends were going trick or treating, I would go because it is really fun to go with other people.

 

Katie Harrill

Halloween doesn’t have a specific rule guide that mentions an age limit for trick or treating. Why shouldn’t teenagers be able to trick or treat? After all, even if adults were not allowed to participate,  teenagers are technically still kids. Also, scary movie marathons are probably one of the best parts of Halloween, but when the TV channels start playing these movies on repeat because they started their season at the beginning of the month, then there is nothing left for a teenager to do at home. Believe it or not, Halloween parties are not actually that common for teens, it’s just another movie stereotype, so odds are, that if you don’t go out trick or treating, then you get stuck with door duty. We are still young and enjoy the festivities of this holiday, so age discrimination is not a fair argument, also, who doesn’t love to dress up every now and then?

 

Kenya Espinoza

Though many seem to believe that trick- or -treating is just meant for children, I disagree. The whole concept of Halloween is for people to be able to dress up and collect candy. The holiday was evidently meant for everyone to celebrate, so I don’t believe you could ever be too old to go trick – or – treating.

 

Marissa Rothstein

I believe that Halloween can and should be celebrated by anyone. I have gone trick or treating for as long as I can remember, it’s like a tradition, so why would you stop at a certain age? Trick or treating causes no harm, it is more good than bad especially for teens since they could be out actually causing harm. It’s supposed to be a fun holiday where you spend time with your friends/family, express yourself for a night, and get a basket of free candy. We should enjoy little things like Halloween while we can because we only have limited time as a teenager.

 

Daphni Torres

As teenagers grow older, they tend to become more hormonal and lean toward scandalous Halloween costumes. When these teenagers decide to trick or treat, they expose themselves to parents as well as the children. A Halloween party would be more appropriate for these teens despite dressing in revealing attire their parents probably wouldn’t approve of. However, there are still teens who are a kid at heart and want to continue the tradition of their childhood memories. These young adults have every right to go out to trick or treat but will be criticized by others. At some point in their life, they have to realize they are a bit too old and they should leave the candy to the little ones. After all, they have their own money to buy themselves a buffet of Halloween candy.

 

Abby Marks

Halloween is a fun time of year to find a cute costume, party with your friends, and eat candy – but definitely not trick or treat at our age. What’s the point of being a young adult going door to door begging for candy? I say just spend 3 of your own dollars on a bag of candy you know you’ll like, instead of weeding through opened candies and the ones you don’t like from trick or treating. Cuddle up with your dog, watch a spooky movie, and eat sweets all night. Or, go to a Halloween party! They’re just as fun as trick or treating used to be but it’s full of friends, food, and fun. Besides – walking around an entire neighborhood just for a bucket of candy is definitely not as appealing as just buying one and having all the work done for you.

 

Ella McCook

I do not believe teenagers are too old to trick or treat on Halloween. Halloween is a way to bring people together and have an enjoyable and fun night. Teenagers could be doing much worse than dressing up in outfits and receiving free candy. It is a fun and creative way for children, including teens, to dress up and express themselves and celebrate with friends without being judged by the general public. If teenagers act in a friendly and appropriate way, it should be

 

Anes Ribic

Any teenager has the option to go trick to treating. Halloween gives them the chance to bring out their kid self and be something funny and silly. Teenagers can run around and eat candy for one night before they have to go back to being a responsible high school student. Halloween is a true holiday for students that work hard in school.

 

Anna Goellner

Oh, the eternal paradox of being a teenager! Too old to act like a child, but too young to act like an adult. Halloween is one of the best holidays of the year, and I think teenagers should enjoy their childhood as long as they want. As long as they are appropriate, friendly, and not disrupting the night for the little kids and their parents, why not? Life is way more fun when we realize we don’t have to be serious all the time. Live a little! Why be opposed to free candy, costumes, and good times with friends?

 

Luke Miller
I do not believe that trick-or-treating should be reserved for younger children. Personally, I don’t know anyone who is opposed to an entire night with friends, going door to door for free candy. The idea that Halloween is limited to children should be abolished, and teenagers should once again be allowed to enjoy the holiday with family and friends without being judged by the outer public.

 

Mrs. Smith

I don’t think teenagers are too old trick-or-treat. Classic trick-or-treating can help keep kids out of trouble and also, in today’s society, kids are forced to grow up so quickly that trick-or-treating as a teenager can help kids continue to feel connected to their youth (which slips away rather quickly!) Once a teenager turns 20 or so, they should probably stop trick-or-treating and save the candy for the kids.