Well everyone, it is that time of year again. Break out the scary music, costumes and evil laughter because it is everyone’s favorite holiday, Halloween! It is also that time of year when everyone dresses up in costumes and goes door-to-door trick-or-treating. Now the big question is: should there be an age limit on trick-or-treating. I hear so many people complaining about how are told to stop trick-or-treating at age 13. I sympathize with these complaints and believe the age limit should be raised to 18. I think that this is a fair idea for many reasons.
First of all, raising to the age limit 18 would not provide a major change anyway. You are still in grade school, usually, until you turn 18. You should be allowed to enjoy your youth while you have it and not just sit at home watching the fun pass you by. After that point, I can understand how society feels. We do need to eventually grow up and let the next generation have their fun. After age 18, we should be handing out the candy, and not asking for it. We can just go buy it from a store by that time.
Second of all, teenagers on Halloween night have always been given a bad reputation because of the crazy people who it is funny to pull pranks, vandalize property, and go out drinking or do drugs. If we allow them to continue trick-or-treating, it may or may not provide a peaceful alternative so they do not have to go find their own entertainment for the evening. By entertainment, I mean the ridiculous acts just listed above. Now I cannot say that this will put a complete stop to the crazy ideas people have on Halloween night, but it will at least provide options.
Finally, when you get into teenage years, you can get more creative on your costumes. When you are a kid, your selection of costumes mainly revolve around dressing up as monsters, heroes, or some other generic concept. When you hit your teenage years, though, you begin to want to experiment and make your own costumes. Going out trick-or-treating, is a great way to show off your creative ideas. I understand that some people’s ideas can be a little bit more on the sketchy side, but this is the time for showing your creativity more than ever. I am sure that many will question my last point and say that kids are more creative, but they are just beginning to tap into what they can think of. Right now, the only way teens can show off costumes is either at some form of convention or party. On top of that, we are told that we are too old for this stuff and need to grow up. To anyone who loves Halloween, it is not just about the candy, dressing up in costumes allows to show what we are interested in.
I love Halloween and, though I may not be able to trick-or-treat myself anymore because I am in college, I want those who have not gotten to this level yet to have the chance to enjoy themselves on Halloween night. If that means trick-or-treating and dressing up in costumes, then okay. We do need to eventually let go and grow up, but not as early as society wishes.
Jonathan Joyner
jrjoyner@vwu.edu
