It’s that time of year again – stores shelves are filled with all your wildest dreams – Snickers, Milky Way, Reese’s, candy, candy, candy! I must admit, I love Halloween night and greeting all the little ghosts, goblins, witches and pumpkins that come to my front door. But the operative word here is “little”. Filling teenagers’ pillow cases with candy just isn’t the same – I think they are too old to trick or treat, even if they do dress in a costume. I want to say – “this isn’t your holiday – you can buy your own candy!”
I am being a curmudgeon? If teenagers want to have their own Halloween party, that’s great, I am all for it. But I do think there needs to be an age limit on door to door trick or treating. When are you too old to trick or treat?
What are your thoughts?
Teens Trick-Or-Treating? Are They Too Old?
I think trick or treating depends more on gender than on age. If you’re a boy, I think you should stop trick or treating when you’re in seventh or eighth grade. Boys tend to be a little more mature then girls when they’re in seventh or eighth grade. And when you’re mature I think it’s time to stop going door to door dressed up just to get candy. Girls, on the other hand, I think should stop trick or treating sometime in high school. Boys can sometimes get out of control on Halloween, and can cause trouble.
I think when you get to be about 14 or 15, dressing up for candy isn’t really something you should join 5 year old kids in doing. When you wonder if you are too old for trick or treating, you probably are.
When it comes to Halloween, it is awkward to be a teenager. People think you are too old to go trick or treating. But your parents are also cracking down when it comes to Halloween parties because of all the trouble kids could get into. So what are teens supposed to do on Halloween night?
When I was in high school I made a point to go trick or treating with my friends. It made us feel young. It made us remember what it was like going around and getting a pillowcase full of candy and bringing it home to trade with each other at the end of the night. Plus I really had no choice. I knew my parents weren’t going to let me go out to a party.
Trick or treating should be fun for the whole family and I don’t think it’s fair that we should set a limit on how old is too old to trick or treat. I mean it would be weird if a parent was trick or treating for themselves. But if a high school senior wants to get all dressed up and go out with his/her friends and collect some candy, at least they aren’t drinking and driving, or doing drugs, or something else you parents condemn.
Trick or treating was such a magical time in my childhood. It was kind of difficult to let go, or so I thought. Eventually I realized that my idea of a good time wasn’t walking around house to house anymore. I’d say it ends in seventh grade, maybe even eighth or ninth grade in rare cases, and then teens prefer buying a couple bags of candy and having a party with friends. I do feel it’s an exception if a teen is taking their younger sibling trick or treating, because then they deserve the candy since they’re missing out on the parties they would otherwise be going to.
All in all, I don’t think it should be insulting to parents for older kids to go trick or treating, despite the fact that they might seem out of place. Some people just really cherish those happy holidays. Let them have their fun!
Sorry….I’m a softy.
I don’t care how old you are. If you come to my door in a costume I’ll give you candy. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a toddler or a grandparent.
It’s a fun holiday, why not let everybody have fun. As long as you’re polite, not drunk, and don’t get in the way of the little kids it’s fine.
What’s the harm?
