By: Bianca Pando, Entertainment Editor
As Halloween approaches, and many are in their last few years of High School, students wonder if they should enjoy their Halloween by trick-or-treating or if it is too late? Although Americans enjoy trick-or-treating, and it is a sample of what to expect in October, at what age should people stop going out and asking door to door for candy?
The tradition of trick or treating stems from a long time ago, dating back to the ancient, pre-Christian festival of Samhain. During this festival, people would dress up and leave plates of food outside their door for unwelcome spirits. This later transformed into something else called ‘souling,’ where people would go to wealthier families to receive a pastry called soul cake, in exchange for a prayer for the family’s passed relatives. The practice was passed down to children, who received gifts like food and money.
Looking at its history, trick or treating began as a practice for adults, which makes room for ideas on how that translates into a fun thing for kids. I think that as the world grew more modern, society developed the idea that something so primitive and simple was meant for children, still in their first stages of development. I mean, asking others for food seems like something kids do since they cannot make the food themselves; therefore, they have to ask. Yet, as people grow older, they can provide for themselves, not needing to ask anymore.
Personally, I have not seen anyone past the age of a high schooler trick or treating. Past high school, many go to college, where they end up hosting halloween parties rather than walking the streets asking houses for candy, surrounded by kids. Olive Aguildard(11) voiced, “… If you’re an adult, like 20, and you don’t have kids, then around that time..it’s kind of weird.” And so, most choose college parties over trick or treating; the sight of a college student asking for candy becomes rare, setting a silent age limit of 18 years old. Another junior at Mills, Janna Ramirez (11), pointed out the use of stereotypes; “I feel like there shouldn’t be an age limit, yet socially, it becomes rare to see older people making it feel weird.” It could also include the perspective of dressing up in cute costumes, like witches and scary characters, taken on a new form along with the age—the intention of dressing up to be ‘scary’ changes to wanting to look good.
While asking around the campus, I found more reasons treat or tricking comes to a stop around high school. Amailea Naughten (11), a junior here at Mills, commented on her perspective. “It wasn’t about being too old, but it was about being busy, and it was usually on Thursday, so it wasn’t a good idea to be out late and go to school the next day.” Honestly, this viewpoint was one I didn’t consider at first, but it does bring up a good point. The older one gets, the more responsibility, and the more things they have to do, resulting in a lack of time to walk around and get candy.
Although there is no age limit to treat or trick, socially, there are ages that are deemed acceptable or not acceptable to go trick or treating. With the issue of safety as well, seeing older people going around kids doesn’t help the case of limiting this tradition to kids. Ultimately, my personal opinion, based on what I have seen and listened to, is that high school is the typical age to stop, whether it’s because of a homework load or maybe the social stigma around older people trick or treating. Of course, feel free to go still and ask for candy at whatever age you want; it’s just that people will treat this as rare, maybe even weird, because it’s not common.
