The question scratching everyone’s mind this Halloween season is how old is too old to trick or treat?
Halloween and trick or treating go hand in hand as so many kids participate in this fun activity every year. Opinions vary on this topic and some even bring up points that kids shouldn’t stop trick or treating based on age but rather how much Halloween spirit they show such as actually dressing up in costumes to trick or treat in.
With all this said let’s actually take a look into some insight from a very credible news source and what they have to say about this topic. In an article written by Elise Sole for Today, titled, “Should There Be an Age Limit on Trick-Or-Treating? How Old Is Too Old?” She dives into some interesting points about this topic and she also quotes others as well as uses surveys to help readers learn more about the topic.
One quote is from Sheryl Ziegler, a family therapist tells TODAY.com who says “There is no age when kids ‘should’ stop trick-or-treating.” She also added that even older kids may still trick-or-treat in groups or en route to parties. “The decision to stop is based more on behavior than age.”
This is an interesting point from Ziegler as it begs the question what behaviors would a kid have to show to be deemed no longer worthy to trick or treat or if one never shows certain behaviors should they never stop trick or treating.
Moving on, in the same article they ran a survey in which 19% of adults polled said kids should stop trick or treating at 17 or 18, 18% said at 15 or 16, and 1% said anyone older than 9 years old should stop trick or treating.
This is interesting as the spectrum of the opinions adults have is such a large margin. A nine year difference is certainly something that stands out when it comes to how old is too old to do something. The last thing from the article that stands out is that some towns have actually set laws on how old is too old to trick or treat. One town in specific is Chesapeake, Virginia where they made it a misdemeanor for any kids over the age of 14 to trick or treat. With all that the article has to say it’s important to actually look at what some teenagers have to say instead of adults.
Let’s take a look at what some MHS students have to say about how old is too old to trick or treat. Two MHS sophomores, Thomas Dunaway and Rylan Oleniczak both shared their opinions about the topic.
Starting with Dunaway, he shared a relatively similar opinion to what the article had to say as he believes that kids should stop trick-or-treating once they go off to college or as he said, “17-18 is an appropriate age for kids to stop trick-or-treating because at that point they are more or less adults and not as much kids.”
Oleniczak also had similar thoughts to Dunaway as he believes senior year of high school would be a good time for kids to stop trick-or-treating. Oleniczak shared that, “trick-or-treating is something that kids fall in love with at a young age but I feel as though the love burns out once they start to experience more things with the holiday such as parties, haunted houses, etc.” Olencizak and Dunaway both echoed similar opinions as one another and as well as the general public has to say about this topic.
With all this said, at the end of the day trick-or-treating is ultimately a fun activity that anyone should have the opportunity to experience at least once in their. As to when they needed to stop trick-or-treating, that’s up to them to decide. Whether it’s at the end of high school or earlier because of personal preference or even a law trick-or-treating is something that has brought joy to kids for many years and hopefully will for years to come. Happy Halloween!
