Halloween is a big deal for people of all ages, from infants to the elderly. It is an opportunity to dress up as your favorite character, celebrity, or a classic, well-known meme.
There are also plenty of Halloween festivities to choose from! You can enjoy the traditional trick-or-treating, trunk-or-treats, costume parties, and so much more. However, one debate I’ve heard over the years is if trick-or-treating should have an age limit. Personally, there were several factors that influenced my opinion on this one.
First things first, Halloween is for everyone!! Some may enjoy attending costume parties or trunk-or treating while others may enjoy handing out candy or walking to the houses in their neighborhoods. Since there are so many different activities that allows people to enjoy Halloween, why should we get to determine that someone is too old to participate? Growing older doesn’t mean someone should stop taking part in the things they love.
Halloween is also an opportunity to encourage community involvement and socialization. Think about how many people will come together to put together a trunk-or-treat. If we were to restrict the people who could attend, how many people do you think would really show up? I’d be willing to argue that you wouldn’t see near as many people as you would without a restriction. Looking at this from a deeper level, social events have a large impact on our mental wellbeing. Think about a college student, someone without their family nearby, or someone just going through a difficult time. This may be one night they really look forward to all year. Who are we to take away an opportunity to connect and experience joy?
An important consideration is inclusivity. Halloween festivities provide individuals with intellectual or physical disabilities, or just individuals that need a little bit of extra help, a safe environment for them to enjoy these traditions. For many, activities like trick-or-treating also create a welcoming environment for them to socialize and express their interests through costumes. They are given an opportunity to make new connections with others and create memories they can look back on with genuine happiness. Unfortunately, many individuals within this group of people are already excluded from activities like this because they don’t accommodate for their needs. Place an age restriction on festivities like trick-or-treating could enforce these feelings of exclusion and negatively impact their mental health. I believe everyone should be given the opportunity to be included regardless of their disabilities, and in my experience, they are the lives of the party!
Another perspective is to consider how taking away traditional Halloween festivities may feel. It can easily feel like a punishment for growing up; something they have no control over. As children, we often view adults as serious, sometimes stressed people who are just trying to get through life. Since growing into an adult myself, I love finding activities that make me feel like a kid again. Growing up shouldn’t feel like a punishment or like we’ve been forced into sacrificing something that brings us happiness. Participating in these activities can bring back that little kid feeling we once had – excitement, joy, and connection with others. Besides, why should it be socially acceptable to trick-or-treat as an adult only when you have children but not okay if you don’t have children? I personally everyone is still a kid at heart, and I wouldn’t want any child to feel left out of something so special.
The last factor I used to form my opinion was simple: if someone is truly happy and respectfully participating in these holiday traditions, what is harm in letting them trick-or-treat? If an individual’s behavior is a genuine concern to others, it would be far more fair to address them individually instead of enforcing restrictions on everyone in their age group. Telling a group of people they’re not welcome to participate in activities because of one person’s poor behavior is simply unfair to those who want to continue making these lasting memories with their loved ones.
So, while you may believe an age restriction should be enforced on trick-or-treating, I hope this article has encouraged you to take a step back and truly look at the bigger picture. Halloween is about making fun memories and holding onto the child inside you. It brings communities together for a night of fun, memory making, and unity. If it weren’t considered unusual for a college student to walk door to door collecting candy, you would definitely see me out there with the rest of the kids having just as much, if not more fun than them!