It’s nearing the end of October, which means it’s time for spooky decorations, creepy costumes and lots of candy! Halloween is an iconic fall holiday, with the star of the show being the tradition of trick-or-treating. Going door to door and receiving candy from as many houses as possible is an important part of an American kid’s life. However, the students at Lambert High School are nearing that age where they have to make the decision to keep trick-or-treating or stop it altogether. It is especially tough for freshmen and sophomores to make that decision, because they don’t feel old enough to stop, but they feel too old to keep going. So that begs the question: when is the right time to stop?
There are many factors to consider when slowing down trick-or-treating. For one, the older a student gets, going door to door for candy loses its appeal in favor of other activities, such as parties or sponsored events. And on top of that, house owners seem more reluctant to give candy to older children as opposed to younger children. In fact, in some American cities, teenagers even faced the threat of jail time if caught trick-or-treating. These factors may influence a student’s decision to stop, as they feel that they are getting too old for these childish activities.
“I feel like kids are trying to grow up faster in the modern day world, and the idea of trick-or-treating seems a little juvenile,” junior Makayla Shadoff said. “It’s just that push for kids to be older, and that makes trick-or-treating less appealing to the younger generations.”
It’s mostly up to the student to determine whether to keep trick or treating or not, but a large role in that decision is also up to the parents. Depending on how involved a certain parent is in a student’s decision, stopping the trick-or-treating tradition may vary from family to family. The realization that their kid might be getting “too old” causes parents to feel reluctant for their children to continue, or even causes them to stop their children altogether, especially in favor of other events such as Trunk or Treat.
“Since Trunk or Treats have become such a prominent part of our culture around Halloween, parents want to take their kids out less and less for trick-or-treating at night, because it seems to be more unsafe than just taking their kid to a Trunk or Treat,” junior Cady Andrews said.
With all these factors considered, the question of when you should stop trick-or-treating still remains. A Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) poll found that older Americans think that kids should stop at around 11 or 12 years old, while younger Americans believe that kids should be allowed to trick-or-treat at any age. The average age provided by a survey was 13.5. There are many factors in this decision, but the general consensus was around 13-15, the age of freshmen and sophomores. It’s only a matter of whether students at Lambert and their parents agree.
“It’ll be a little awkward if you go by yourself, but if you go with a big group of friends, then I’d say do [trick-or-treating] …until the legal amount that you’re a kid,” Shadoff recommended. “Have fun while you still can.”
No matter what anyone says, students should be allowed to continue trick-or-treating for as long as they please. And whether they are attending a party or still prowling the streets in search of more houses, Halloween is still a highlight for many of Lambert’s students, whether they trick-or-treat or not.
