Ding dong! An elderly woman proceeds to stand up from her ancient, creaky recliner for the seventieth time that night and hobbles to the door. “Trick-or-treat!” The little old lady looks up to a group of three massive teenagers who are in full costume, pleading for candy. She tosses a single fun-size Snickers bar in each of their candy bags, gives a judgmental look, and shuts the door.

This can often be the case when high schoolers go trick-or-treating; as they roam the streets, parents of young children appear confused, and sometimes even disgusted, as they watch their tiny three foot tall children walk up to a stranger’s home beside seemingly “immature” teenagers that are two times their size. Should these kinds of things stop high schoolers who choose to go trick-or-treating?

Personally, I do not go trick-or-treating anymore, but I believe that anyone should continue to trick-or-treat if their heart desires. Halloween is the one night of the year where one can get dressed up in the silliest, scariest, or strangest of costumes, have fun with friends, and get free candy. Who doesn’t like free candy?! Yes, there are many other options on Halloween, such as going to a party, passing out sweets, or watching horror films. However, isn’t it a great feeling to just act like a kid again? I’ve passed adults who go trick-or-treating in costume with their children and collect a little candy for themselves, and I think that that’s great for them. Even though my mother claims that I don’t need all of those sugary, unhealthy treats, I just blame it on the holiday season; everyone stuffs and splurges on food during the autumn/winter.

Additionally, it isn’t just adults that can criticize content teenagers on a sugar high; their peers can as well. Typically, the school day after Halloween consists of gossip and drama about what happened at that party or how promiscuous that one girl’s costume was. If a student goes in and starts talking about all of the candy they got while trick-or-treating, they might get a response like, “What are you, a five-year-old?” If I were to go candy hunting and were being judged by people my same age, friends or enemies alike, I would just brush it off and tell them that they can mind their own business and that I had a fun night regardless. No one should do anything to please others, just themselves. Within the next four years, everyone will be graduated and never have to see each other again. Plus, trick-or-treaters have a giant stash of delicious chocolate waiting for them at home, and to me, that equals pure satisfaction.

There is nothing that says there is an age limit on who can go trick-or-treating, and if someone really wants to, they should go for it. Just dress up as Taylor Swift, glance at the haters, and just “Shake It Off.”