Trick-or-Treating: How old is too old?

Created+by%3A+Mia+Starkenburg

Created by: Mia Starkenburg

There is one thing most of us look forward to on Halloween: Trick-or-Treating. Walking around with your friends and filling your stomachs with chocolate are memories we all cherish, remember and long to repeat. 

 Even in middle school and high school, kids walk around their neighborhoods in search of treats. But at what age does it become creepy? Admit it, isn’t it weird that once a year we walk around from house to house asking for candy?

I think it’s acceptable for high-schoolers to trick-or-treat. On the other hand, just think about how silly it would look for a grown adult doing that. Especially when they can just supply their own candy. 

When I was younger, seeing grown adults trick-or-treating was scary. Little kids can have big imaginations. So, seeing grown people dress-up as real characters seemed too authentic.

For example, at Disney World, there are people hired specifically to impersonate Disney characters, and I know that some kids think those people are the real thing. That’s why Disney doesn’t allow park visitors over the age of 18 to dress-up in costume.

If you still want to dress up, there are ways to remedy that. Instead of trick-or-treating, you could be dressing up to go to halloween parties or doing a spooky Instagram post. 

Let go of that part of your childhood, because there are so many kids that should enjoy it. I think they deserve those memories just as much as you and I did.

As you get older, your role in trick-or-treating changes. You go from walking door-to-door, to handing out candy off your front porch. Find ways to make it fun and be creative!

 Now, I’m not looking forward to my last Halloween trick-or-treating either. Although, I know there are other ways that I can have fun. 

Alternatives I love are: staying in and watching scary movies or going to a haunted house. In the past, My friends and I have gotten a bunch of food and watched movies from our favorite horror franchises like Scream or Halloween.

Go to a pumpkin patch and carve some pumpkins. I also love to cook and bake, so making pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin seeds and caramel apples is always fun. 

In a way, I think you should look forward to putting it behind you, because you can create brand new traditions. Plus, they can be just as exciting. 

My parents don’t dress-up or go trick-or-treating anymore, but they always find ways to have a good time. They go to a friend’s Halloween party, and help my siblings and I put our costumes together. 

I love Halloween, and getting free candy, but there are other ways to spend the spooky holiday.