As October comes to an end and Halloween rolls around, the inevitable question of “what are your plans for Halloween?” is posed. Historically, Halloween is regarded as a Celtic holiday where people dressed up to ward off ghosts in the eighth century. Today, Halloween is known as a day where everyone dresses in costumes to participate in the typical halloween traditions from trick or treating to scaring friends and family. While there are a multitude of activities to choose from during this eerie holiday season, the idea of free candy can sound pretty appealing to many people, especially children. Traditionally, children are the target of trick or treating, but as they grow older the societal expectation is that they stop this activity. Consequently, the kids that once used to love trick or treating are now pressured to stop, which leaves everyone with the question “at what age can these kids get away with trick or treating until they meet their end of this beloved childhood activity?”.
In order to get an answer to this question, one must first address the public’s opinion. Through a survey sent to Brownell Talbot’s middle and upper school students, we found the majority of students agreed an age limit shouldn’t be put on the tradition of trick or treating. Along with the second most popular vote saying the cut off should end at eighteen, since eighteen is the most commonly accepted legal age of adulthood in America. Additionally, the rest of the votes could be summed up by ending trick or treating at even earlier ages from thirteen to sixteen. In fact, some cities such as Jacksonville, Illinois and Rayne, Louisiana decided to put an age limit on trick or treating by banning kids over the age of twelve from this activity because they considered it solicitation.
Although there are many answers to the age limit of trick or treating, I favor the answer of no cut off age. Now, I understand why many people wouldn’t want grown adults going around asking for candy, it sounds weird. Though, unlike the cities of Jacksonville and Rayne, I wouldn’t put such an abrupt stop to the beloved Halloween activity by refusing candy to an adult or teen who looks a little too old. Instead, I would let the older trick or treaters carry on with their lives because at the end of the day every child will be overloaded on sugar and the bowl used to hand out candy will be empty.
After all the debate of trick or treating, maybe this activity is simply the Halloween tradition that’s, unintentionally, left in the past as children get older and their interests change. Aside from the different speculations about trick or treating, the consensus everyone can agree on is how memorable this activity was. Whether people are looking back to the nostalgia of their childhood or plan to go against societal expectations and reclaim the free sweets they feel deprived of, we can all agree trick or treating is an unforgettable experience.
