Are Teenagers Too Old To Trick-or-Treat?
Paul Sapiano from San Diego, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
YES
The fall season has just begun and that means Halloween is just around the corner. Families are stocking up on candy, setting up festive decorations, and getting their spooky Halloween costumes ready. On Halloween night millions of children around America will participate in an exciting night of trick-or-treating walking door to door to receive candy and trying to eat it all that same night. However, a question is raised, are you too old to trick-or-treat?
Trick-or-treating Is a Halloween tradition where children go door to door dressed up as their favorite fictional characters, people, or objects saying the words “Trick-or-Treat" to receive candy. As a child, the trick-or-treat experience is not really an issue. However, as we get older and become teens the age limit for trick-or-treating creates debate.
As we get older, we begin to realize that the costumes are a little immature and that the small and miniature pieces of candy are not worth it.
Teenagers are becoming too mature for trick-or-treating. Going around walking door to door asking for candy dressed up is an experience meant for younger kids. The “spookiness” of Halloween is meant for younger children who have not yet been able to tell the difference between real and fake. Teenagers are not scared of fake insects, witches, and big monsters anymore. The whole experience has just become boring as walking door to door saying the lines “Trick-or-Treat" to receive a few pieces of candy gets repetitive and old. If teenagers really wanted some candy, they could just go out and buy some rather than asking neighbors for miniature pieces.
“If teenagers really wanted some candy, they could just go out and buy some rather than asking neighbors for miniature pieces.”
Teenagers should not trick-or-treat alongside younger children. Since trick-or-treating is meant for younger kids, they should have priority over teenagers. As teens involve themselves in the event, they begin taking more and more candy away from the children. In past trick-or-treating experiences I have had, there would be times when people left bowls of candy unattended. With these bowls unattended, I have seen teens take handfuls of candy or leave the bowl completely empty, leaving nothing for whoever is next to come.
Teens also tend to trick-or-treat in unsupervised groups. Teenagers unsupervised can lead to reckless behavior. The reckless behavior of unsupervised teens can cause harm to others who are just trying to enjoy the innocence and fun of Halloween. This can ruin younger children's experiences of trick-or-treating.
We have grown up since our Disney princess and superhero days. This Halloween you could escort your younger sibling or pass out candy instead. You could even attend or throw a Halloween party with fellow teenagers your age. But we are becoming too old for Trick-Or-Treating, and we have already had our fun, it is time for us to leave this spooktacular experience to the next generation.
Hayley Hinds
NO
Halloween is a fun and festive holiday that people of all ages enjoy. It's the season for dressing up in costumes, eating candy, and going trick-or-treating. However, as we get older, we tend to lose interest in these activities. This is especially true for teenagers, who are frequently perceived as being too old to go trick-or-treating. But why should teenagers be excluded from all the fun? Trick-or-treating is a tradition that people of all ages should participate in for a variety of reasons.
People all over the world celebrate Halloween on Oct. 31. But where did this tradition come from, and what does it mean? Halloween is a centuries-old tradition that can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. The festival commemorated the harvest and remembered the dead. It has evolved over the centuries into a celebration of life and death for many people all over the world.
Trick or treating is a Halloween tradition that people of all ages enjoy. Many teenagers and adults enjoy dressing up and going door to door looking for candy. “If you're dressed up for a good time, I'll give you candy,” teacher Mark Robbins-Penniman said. Halloween traditions, like trick or treating, have a playful aspect, with costumes serving to transform people into mysterious characters. “Halloween is a holiday that should be for everyone, to dress up and do something out of the norm, for everyone to have fun,” sophomore Bianca Voelkel said.
“Halloween is a holiday that should be for everyone, to dress up and do something out of the norm, for everyone to have fun.”
Halloween is a time for celebration, but it can also be a source of stress and anxiety for many teenagers. The pressure to conform to societal norms about what is "appropriate" can be overwhelming, especially for those who are not at ease in their own skin. “I’d say teenagers are treated differently because they are older, but then again a lot of the time, there’s an expectation that they’ll be disrespectful because most teenagers can be,” Voelkel added.
Unfortunately, this is another issue where media sources such as movies tend to skew people's perceptions of them. “It’s very common in media depictions of teenagers around Halloween, that they are doing mischievous things, that they are you know at an unchaperoned party, or they’re going around the neighborhood TP-ing,” Mr. Robbins-Penniman added.
Teens should go trick-or-treating for a variety of reasons. It's a fantastic way to get candy, have fun, and spend time with friends. There's no shame in doing something fun even if you're no longer a child. So get out there and have fun!
Kylie Twigg and Queenie Ye