Friday, 16 October 2009
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Teens, Tweens and Halloween
There have been a number of posts recently about Halloween and in the comments section you can count on someone complaining about the older tweens/teens that come around trick or treating, especially the ones not in costume. While some teens act rudely which understandably upsets people, many people seem upset by one of three things (or a combination of these things):
1. The kids are too old for it.
2. They did not follow the unwritten rules of H'ween, no costume = no candy
3. They arrive "too late"
As a former middle school teacher and mom of a soon to be 10 year old I have a lot of sympathy for those kids that fall into the 12 to 15 year old age range. They just don't have a lot of options. Many of them spent the early part of their evening taking younger siblings around and now they want to have the same type of fun with their friends. Waiting on siblings to finish so they can go out sometimes means they don't arrive until 8:30. If that's too late for you turn off your lights.
Also, so what if they are not in costume. Kids that age are painfully self conscious. Do we really not remember what it was like to be 13. Can't we give the kids a break? Again, if they are well behaved (age appropriately!) let them have a little fun. They have so little opportunity to behave and feel like little kids again, let them hang on to as much of it as they can!
As far as behavior goes, these kids are doofy. There's just no other way about it. They are loud, silly and act impulsively. This does not make them bad kids, it makes them normal and in need of some guidance which they are often sadly lacking by middle school. (Don't believe me, ask middle school teacher about their back to school night parental attendance vs. a 2nd grade teacher, but that's another rant, lol!) If they're not stealing candy, screaming profanity and vandalizing the neighborhood let's give them the benefit of the doubt that they just want to relive their past a bit and get a little candy.
I admit I live in a "good" neighborhood. We have lots of kids and lots of parental supervision. We get teens trick or treating and we get the "truck loads" from other neighborhoods but in the end who cares? What does it really cost you to give the benefit of the doubt and be a little extra generous? $10 for a couple more bags of candy? Seems a small price to pay to help this group feel like they still belong.
What do you think? Tweens and teens trick or treating, yay or nay?
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About the Author
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- From: bubbelcat
- Name: Becky
- About Me: I'm from a small hicksville town in the suburbs of Washington D.C. where we don't know nuthin' 'bout anything.
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Comments (81)
I think 15 is a good cut off age. Kids grow up fast enough. Let them have some fun, but really, costumes are NOT optional. If you want the loot, put on a suit! LOL!
My issue is with those "truck loads" from other neighborhoods regardless of age. I've only given out candy once in the ten years I've been in my home (only because we are not normally home because we go to the neighborhood hubby grew up in). I gave out $50 in candy and still ran out over thirty minutes before time was up. There were people older than I was (very early 20's at that time) coming to the door! The sad part is I live in a tiny town of around 600 people!
I think I was 13 the last time I went trick or treating with friends. Some people didn't give us candy, and the ones that did probably weren't too happy about it. We still felt and acted like kids, even if we didn't look like it, you're right, it's an awkward stage!
There were a few bad-attitude groups of tween/teens that came to my door last year, the favorite being a cocky group of 15 year old boys who asked if they could come in and have some beer (when they glanced behind me through the door and got an eyeful of adult Halloween) instead of candy. Really, guys?
@kpsmom3@xanga - Haha, I got some trick or treaters older than myself too! I recognized one guy as a friend of a friend, and he mumbled something about chaperoning his kid brother then held out his pillowcase. Heehee!
I live in one of those neighborhoods that others flock to by the truckloads and I love it! Our HOA does things like put really bright lights in the street lamps to further illuminate the streets in our subdivision and no cars are allowed to drive through the streets between certain hours. People park at the park at the entrance of our neighborhood and do the rest on foot. My husband and I start buying candy really early in the year -- we just pick it up on sale whenever we see it. Otherwise we'd spend way too much on candy! Last year, I counted 340 visits to our house and most were in groups of at least 2! Needless to say, my neighborhood loves Halloween night and we do our part to make it fun for the kids.
That said, I HATE it when teens come by and I especially hate it when they don't even bother to dress up. At least dress up. I don't run a charity. It's Halloween. Get a costume.
I think the cut off age for trick or treaters should be 13. Once your a teen, you're just a bit too old to go from door to door looking for candy handouts. Leave that to the kiddos.
It makes me mad when older teens and young adults trick or treat for themselves. Really, you're 19 and trick or treating? No. Let the 9 year olds have the candy - you go to a party or read a book or something.
I haven't been trick or treating since I was 13. After that year, I started working at church fall festivals, running booths and painting kid's faces. I was always very mature for my age and I felt very, very silly dressing up and trick or treating with my younger sisters.
well, i am 13 and have been trick-or-treating all my life. i don't plan on stopping either. and no, i'm not in it for the candy. i personally love dressing up and walking around the neighborhood with my friends and acting silly. and i'm polite and thankful, thanks for defending us :)
@kpsmom3@xanga - I totally agree! Halloween is all about dressing up, no matter what age you are! I sort of get the impression that people give out candy in exchange for the fun of seeing all the costumes parade by their door. I mean, that's kind of the point. Without the costumes, it's just going door to door begging for candy. Lame. Kids are self conscious, yes, but most will still throw on the face mask or witch hat in exchange for free candy! Especially in the spirit of reliving youth and childhood. In fact, most ADULTS will still throw on costumes for their kids sake or adult parties, or just for fun! If I see a family with great costumes, I will give the parents candy too! Rewarding their efforts
I went trick or treating until I was a teenager. My last year was at 16; I just took my little sister around that year. Years 13-16 I pretty much wore the same "costume": normal black pants, a shirt, and a witch hat, with maybe some makeup and black nail polish. My friend and I would hand out candy to the little ones and or take siblings around and then go around the block once ourselves. By 16 she was too old for it so I just took my sister out. I am actually way excited to have a baby in january because it means I get to dress somebody up and take them out trick or treating next halloween. (even though they'll be too little to understand). Yay!
Personally I wouldn't go trick or treating (I'm 22 though). We live in a neighborhood that doesn't have street lamps, so the streets get really dark. This means very few to no trick or treaters. I prefer to just buy a few bags of candy and read a book or something while I see how many whoppers I can fit into my mouth at once.
I've never been trick or treating, because I've lived in NZ all my life. I've just moved to England and was going to help out with a kids halloween party, part of it involving going door to door asking for candy. I was really excited about getting to dress up for the first time and seeing what the big fuss is about. I'm 20 now.
Would I get a bad reaction?
I feel lame :(
The last time I went trick or treating, I was 17. It was very impulsive decision, however. My bestfriend, who at the time was pretty much living with me, was nearly 8 months pregnant and while at walmart with my mom, we seen a sign on a truck advertising they were doing a haunted house just a few streets down from my house. We joked about going, but after being home a few hours, decided to actually go. We dressed up in pajamas, I grabbed a bottle from the cabinet, we found a pacifer for her, we carried stuffed animals (hers a bit bigger to cover her belly which never got very big) and put our hair up in pig tails. We mainly went because we were bored, spontaneous, and wanted to have some innocent fun before her baby was born (she was born 7 days later. xD) We really didn't even go to many houses, but most of the ones we did go to, loved our customes and stood there chatting with us for a bit. One older couple even asked if they could take our picture before they liked our costumes so much. I think older kids trick or treating is fine, as long as they have a good attitude about it and behave. Costumes are a plus, but I remember being 14 and not wanting to dress up. I thought I was the "cool older chick" walking around. ha.
Trick or treating is fun! I think people would rahter me get fat off their candy than just wasting money on a big bag of it and having to eat it all themselves. After high school I'll start to feel bad, but I see nothing wrong with it before then. :]
Last time I went trick-or-treating was 15.....and people gave me pretty weird looks, LOL.
But, god I miss trick-or-treating. :( I'm 18...too old
I went trick or treating last when I was 16 and a few people were jerks. But the very older people, like over 60, were awesome. They gave us as much candy as to the little kids. I think when you get to be grandpa/grandma age, kids are kids to you and you don't distinguish between 10 and 16. It's the people who are about 30-50 who are judgmental and jerkish.
During my freshman and sophomore year of college, I attended a very small private college in Temple Terrace, Florida. Our school backed up to a "retirement" neighborhood. I don't know if it was a requirement but most of the people who lived there were retired. They LOVED our school because we had a curfew and we weren't loud or partying types and we did a lot of volunteer work in the community. It was kind of a tradition for us to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. And we would dress up. They gave out amazing candy and had haunted houses set up and things like that. They always asked "Are you from FC?" and we would say "yes" and they would tell us "wait here" and come back with hot chocolate or cider. One lady even gave us giftcards to starbucks! (It was a rich area of town).
I hadn't been out trick or treating since about 13 so it was really fun to go out and do it again. But had I been somewhere else, I wouldn't have gone --- just because I would feel too old. But if you are in an area where the people kind of "expect it" or it's okay, then go for it. :)
YAY for college students who still go trick-or-treating!! YAY!! I'm eighteen, but I'm 4' 9'' so. . .
:]
One day, i'll look too old to fool anyone, but i'll just put a mask over my face.
Then i'll share the loot with my friends and little cousins who can't go trick or treating.
@xsteph_ox@xanga - No! You definitely should go. Just tell everyone who's passing out candy that you're from New Zealand (with an accent) and tell them you've never gone trick-or-treating before, and if that won't make them stop giving you dirty looks, just tell them that your friends dragged you along.. Haha ^^
@inconceivable_alicia@xanga - I understand, but around where I live, not a lot of kids go trick-or-treating anymore. Last year, I was 17, and I went. The neighbors complained about having so few people knocking on their doors and that kids are running out of the Halloween spirit. They were happy to even have high school and college students come up and ask for candy. Sometimes, they're trying to dump their whole bowl of candy into your bag.
So it just kind of depends on where you live. (:
@BlehhItsTu@xanga - Haha. ^-^
I agree that the costumes should be REQUIRED.
I'm seventeen, and might go out this year, for the last time.
I'm 17 and I still plan on going this year. Probably even after this year too because I'm pretty damn short.
My friends and I aren't jerks. Besides, you know all that candy that you're giving out in handfuls by the end of the night because your house is on the end of the street?
Yeah, we'll take it.
Sigh* I miss good old trick or treating days
I hate the term TOO OLD* for trick or treating
How often do we get to dress up and be in the spirit knocking door to door
Its not about the candies - its about the experience
-So what if i didnt get more candy than so and so - I had fun* at least
SEMI. YAY.
but i agree, most of them comes in LARGE GROUPS.
THEY'RE rowdy, they swear like no tomorrow, they dont bother dressing UP
they dont even say THANK YOU, D: gosh _):
Haha, I'm 16 and I went trick-or-treating last year as a dinosaur. I was in no way rude to those giving me candy. I have more respect for adults than most people my age these days.
I think you should be aloud to go trick or treating at whatever age you want, but a costume is definitely required. I mean, c'mon you've just got to have a costume.
The cut off age for me was 6th grade, age 12. After that, I hung out at my grandmother's house, dressed up, and gave candy out at the door. She lived in a great neighborhood, so it was lots of fun. One of my students will be going out this year, again, even though he is 17. I just don't get it. I could see, if he had a younger sibling that he needed to take around.
I went trick or treating well into my late teens. My boyfriend and I and his brother (who was even older) used to go to the "rich people" neighborhoods so that we could see inside people's houses and see how "the other side lived" while also getting the "good" candy.
One of the last times I went was with some other friends of mine. That time we really worked for it, in several neighborhoods. We got VERY dressed up, it took each of us like 2 or 3 hours to be ready to go, and we had a song and dance routine with a song we'd made up about how we knew we were too old to be trick or treating but there's nothing else to do, we're graduating high school soon and we'd be grown up then. I can't remember the song, but it rhymed and it was awesome. And funny. And we ended it singing "trick or treat" with our bags open. By the time we were done even those that normally would have been annoyed that we were teenagers were so amused that we usually got big handfuls of candy and lots of smiles. That was one of the best nights ever.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - I noticed the same thing when I was a teenager and went trick or treating.