As the weather grows colder and the leaves start to change colors, it is a sure sign that Halloween is on the way. Everyone starts to get their costumes ready, decorations put up and candy bought. Halloween is one of the most popular and fun-filled holidays in America. Many people believe that trick-or-treating on Halloween night should only be for kids in middle school or younger. This belief excludes the large group of teenagers that still want to dress up and get candy but are stopped by societal pressures from people saying that they are too old.

“I think letting more teenagers participate in trick-or-treating would be beneficial for a lot of people,” said senior Naomi Harman. “It would probably prevent things like underage drinking and pranking that ruins the experience for the smaller kids.”

There are a multitude of worse things that teenagers could be doing on Halloween night other than putting on a costume and getting candy. They could be egging houses, pranking people, scaring people, drinking or being rowdy. All of these things could be avoided in some cases if teenage kids felt more comfortable and welcome to join in on the trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods.

“I think teenagers should be able to do whatever they want including trick-or-treating,” said junior Eva Fales.

In many cases, teenagers have been judged or yelled at by adults for being too old to trick-or-treat. This is harmful to those kids who just want to hold on to their childhood for a bit longer.

“People need to take a deep breath and realize that there are bigger problems in the world,” said Fales when sharing her opinion about adults who yell at teenagers for trick-or-treating.

Trick-or-treating is purely a fun activity to celebrate Halloween and slip back into childhood. It should be open to all kids, including teenagers and high schoolers, despite their age or others’ opinions.