Life

Are You Too Old To Trick-Or-Treat?

by Chelsey Grasso

Have you ever found yourself asking, "Am I too old to trick-or-treat?" It's a tricky question. On the one hand, it hardly seems fair that getting free candy is only for kids — but, on the other, it can be pretty creepy to have fully grown adults showing up at your door in costume asking you for that aforementioned candy.So, how to navigate the thin line between appropriate and inappropriate trick-or-treating?

As it turns out, people have some very strong opinions on the matter, and I'm not exaggerating. In fact, some cities actually have rules and regulations about who is and isn't allowed to trick-or-treat. Crazy, right? And let us not forget that those parents who accompany their children trick-or-treating also have a tricky decision to make: They're also walking the whole neighborhood with their kids! Don't they deserve some candy compensation too?

While there's no "official answer" when it comes to answering the question of how old is too old to go trick-or-treating, there are definitely some important stats on the information. Find out what a majority of the population thinks, as well as which cities actually do impose laws on a trick-or-treater's age limit.

Many People Think You're "Never" Too Old To Trick-Or-Treat

In Sept. 2016, Today posted a non-scientific poll asking people when they think people should stop trick-or-treating — and the official answers, which were revealed in another post in Oct. 2016, were actually surprising. While it wasn't the leading response, the answer "Never!" did come in at second place with a whopping 25 percent of the votes. Considering that the first place answer (ages 14-15) held 33 percent of the votes, that's a relatively strong response from survey takers.

Most People Think Trick-Or-Treating Should Stop Between The Ages Of 12 And 17

According to the same survey posted by Today, a total of 73 percent of voters agreed that trick-or-treating should stop somewhere between the ages of 12 and 17. The number one response to what age children should stop trick-or-treating, as aforementioned, was "14-15" with 33 percent of votes — but "16-17" came in as the third most popular response with 20 percent of votes, "12-13" came in fourth with at 19 percent, and "10-11" fifth with 3 percent. Totaled, this is 73 percent — much more than the "Never!" response's 25 percent.

Some Cities Ban Teenagers From Trick-Or-Treating

If you're not in agreement with those who argued against older teenagers and adults being allowed to trick-or-treat, then the news that some cities actually ban it with legal repercussions is not going to float your boat. According to the Daily News, for example, Belleville, Illinois has an ordinance that restricts high school-aged teens from trick-or-treating.

Based off the fact that there's clearly no official answer to the question, it seems that it's up to the person considering trick-or-treating to decide when they're too old — or, in the case of some American towns and cities, the law.

Images: Giphy