As the leaves change and the weather becomes colder, the holiday season looms near. Starting with Halloween, every month remaining in the calendar year contains a major holiday.

Halloween traditions vary and contain many peculiar customs between societies and countries. Here in the U.S. and other Anglosphere countries, trick or treating is a beloved practice of young kids and controversially some older-aged adolescents as well. Most parents and adults think that kids over the age of 12 or 13 should probably not be trick or treating and that it is meant for young kids under the age of 10. 

Many high school age kids feel that they should not be too old for this tradition and still want to enjoy their time on Halloween. According to Time Magazine, less than 50% of high school aged students, 14-18 years old, are still trick or treating. Some cities and towns even have laws that restrict these teens from going out on Halloween night and having fun with their friends. As long as teens are having a good time and are not ruining other people’s night, there is no reason they should not be allowed out, too.

Many high school students feel that it is “lame” or “immature” to go trick or treating and dress up in costumes. Other parents also feel it could be a threat to their young children’s safety to have teens out on the streets with their young kids. Teens are often seen as bad influences because a few do illegal things on Halloween night, such as egg houses, toilet paper homes and scare little kids. Nowadays, though, most young children are participating in school events, such as trunk or treats, making it emptier and emptier on Halloween night which provides teens no reason to not trick or treat. 

Just because students are getting older does not mean they cannot have some fun. Shaming teens for wanting to hold on to their last bit of childhood is simply ridiculous. Adults should understand that all kids are different, and some may want to hold onto those days of being a kid and having fun until they simply cannot anymore. 

On Halloween night, if a high schooler shows up on the front porch, all adults should give them a piece of candy if they have it.