Are Teens too old for trick or treating?

Sally - posted on 11/05/2010

If you wear a costume and are polite, I'll give you candy no matter how old you are.
When you go out in your street clothes and/or are rude, you get no candy from me no matter how little you are.

Jane - posted on 11/04/2010

@LaCi - oh you poopy head (LOL - just kidding)! BTW...I LOVE Quija boards :)

LaCi - posted on 11/04/2010

Meh. I'll give a Ouija board and tell him to have fun when he's 12. Or drive him to one of the ridiculous amount of haunted houses. I just think teenagers are way too old for it. It's weird. ;/

Jane - posted on 11/04/2010

@LaCi - In our area, if Halloween is on a weekend night, the parties are the preferred. However, more often than not, Halloween is on a school night and it's the only outlet the kids have on that night to goof around, walking the neighborhood in the dark (and cold here in Colorado) and scoring some candy! Now, do I want a 17 year old knocking at my door? NO...my son is 17 and he hung out with us, playing cribbage and handing out candy to the other kids but even the underclassmen in high school (9th and 10th) still find it fun. I don't think they're begging at all.....I mean, they ARE still kids and still like candy :)

LaCi - posted on 11/04/2010

Uh yeah. Too old. Shouldn't they be out dressing as something either disgusting or slutty, drinking in some other teenagers basement or in the woods? :)



I don't care. I think it's weird. I wonder what kind of fun these teenagers still have if they think going door to door begging for candy is a good time.



I think costume parties and haunted houses are more suitable halloween activities for teens.

Jane - posted on 11/03/2010

I LOVE the teens coming to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Every year, it starts out with the little ones as soon as it gets dark and then by 7:30ish, the little ones are done and the teens are out and about for another 1-1/2 or so. They have the greatest costumes...so original and in my neighborhood, the teens are very polite and respectful. I think it's great when they want to go out and trick-or-treat because it shows they still are kids at heart and are not out smashing pumpkins and egging houses!

Allie - posted on 11/01/2010

It definitely depends on the teen. I have a very responsible younger sister (17) who LOVES halloween. But she's respectful and loves children so she and a select few friends do go trick-or-treating. But I took my 2 1/2 year old last night and noticed that the 9-12 year olds were worse than the 15-17 year olds.

Amber - posted on 11/01/2010

I have no problem with teenagers trick or treating. I've never had one be disrespectful to me. They are always goofying around with friends and just walking around for candy. Shoot, I'm happy when somebody tosses some candy my way when I'm taking my son around....
It's really sad that a handful of teenagers who act badly ruins the fun for the vast majority of them. Most teenagers aren't running around acting/dressing like sluts or causing trouble...but few people remember the good things, only the bad.

April - posted on 11/01/2010

I never even thought of that and now i'm inclined to agree. i wouldn't want my 9 year old to see older girls dressed up so slutty. i'm 29 and i didn't want a slutty costume...but as i learned last night....scary costumes are bad when you have a 1 year old and he has 1 year old friends. my son and his friend looked like they were gonna cry. Not my best idea

Kelly - posted on 11/01/2010

I agree, April. If they are not dressed, I would not give them candy! We do get teen trick or treaters w/o siblings occasionally (very rarely), but I've never encountered a teen not dressed up asking for candy either! I must be sheltered :P

I do hate to see the "slutty" costumes on trick or treaters. Those are more appropriate for adult only parties and not for prancing around in front of little kids and adolescents. We had a girl in a"Slutty gangster" costume prancing around last night....the 9-12 yr old crowd was gawking at her. If she had come to my door, I would not have given her candy.

April - posted on 11/01/2010

@ Kelly....I just don't like teenagers coming to my door if they are not dressed up. I find it extremely obnoxious when they show up in regular clothes or throw on a mask as an afterthought. I still give them candy, but do so reluctantly. I also think large groups of teenagers are obnoxious. i prefer small groups...no more than 3 or 4 and they should be in full costume. I get annoyed at having to hand out candy to 10 teenagers not even dressed.

Ashley=) - posted on 11/01/2010

Your lucky kelly.. seriously i had to put the boot down last night because they were just to much.I love that idea of the door, fair play..i like those teens who are fun and good mannered.I wish we had more of them were i live.

Kelly - posted on 11/01/2010

We had one group of teens last night that went around together after finishing up with their siblings. They were dressed as a group of old people behind a door. When you opened your door to give out the candy you were confronted with another door. then the teens would open the door and say "Oh what a cute costume!" in their best old person voice and give YOU candy! I loved it! --and of course I gave them candy too. (There were 4 teens in the group, If I remember them all correctly, they are 16, it took two to lug the door around, so they took turns carrying it)



I guess I've just never encountered an obnoxious teen trick or treating. I have encountered some pretty nasty 7-9year olds who give nasty looks if you don't give them huge handfuls of treats, or who take out 10-12 pieces at a time from the bowl. But I always assumed that had more to do with parenting than age....

Ashley=) - posted on 11/01/2010

No i feel its for small children or if the teens are at least respectful i will give them something.I had teenage boys acting up at the door, first time my partner was light hearted and had a joke with the lad and gave him a bag of sweets, but they then kept doing it.I was trying to get my girls in there PJ's and my 22mth old was over tired, i told them to quit it.I like to see older teens bring there little siblings around, thats cool.No problems there but a lot of the teens were i was were being rude and obnoxious.

Alison - posted on 10/31/2010

I think it's ok for teens to dress up if they are accompanying younger children, but not if it's a group of teens. I imagine people will become reluctant to open their doors to adult sized figures wearing masks. That'll just lead to spoiling the fun for everyone else.

Jodi - posted on 10/31/2010

I think if their taking out their younger siblings its fine to do so, but anyone over 14 is too old to be doing so for themselves. However, i would rather see them trick or treating then getting into trouble!

Kelly - posted on 10/31/2010

I'm surprised at the responses! I didn't realize that people didn't like to see older kids trick or treat. In our neighborhood, a lot of the teen aged brothers and sisters dress up and take their younger siblings trick or treating so their parents can stay home and hand out candy. I always give them candy, I figure they deserve the reward for thinking up a great costume and lugging their little siblings around at half the pace they'd like to be going. Plus, most teens had to put together their own costumes around here.



Just curious, for those of you who think they are too old, why do you think they are too old?

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 10/31/2010

As long as they're dressed up and not acting crazy then I don't care. I think I went trick or treating for the last time around 13, but after that I went to (or hosted) Halloween parties.

Christina - posted on 10/31/2010

I think I was 15 the last time I went trick or treating. I was at a halloween party with my friends, and we all decided to hit up a few houses on the block. Because all the neighbors knew my friend who was hosting the party, they were all happy to give us candy! Once the kids hit 16 or so, they are too old IMO. However, if I was passing out candy and a 17yr old came by, I would give them candy as long as they had a cool costume lol

Lyndsay - posted on 10/31/2010

I definitely think they're too old. I work in a group home with 6 girls age 13-18 and they are all going trick or treating. They are all lower functioning, so developmentally they aren't really functioning at that age, but still. If they came to my door I wouldn't give them candy, but the agency says they're allowed so they're going.

Leah - posted on 10/31/2010

Anybody over the age of 13 years old at the maximum is too old for trick or treating. Now, if your just getting dressed up for the fun of it and going to a get together etc, there is no age limit! :D But to go to peoples doors and ask for candy, past the age of 13, is just inappropriate and ruins it for the little kids.

Catherine - posted on 10/30/2010

If they are polite and dressed up, I don't mind. Honestly, I would rather give them a few pieces of candy than have them vandalize something or get drunk. I always have extra candy at the end of the night anyways, so it's better if they eat it than if I do.

Teresa - posted on 10/30/2010

If you want to dress up and go out (and be relatively behaved)... you're never too old. Some of the best costumes I see each year are done by the teenagers in my church. Last year one boy was an outhouse. ;)

Laura - posted on 10/30/2010

That's a really good question. I don't mind teens trick-or-treating as long as they behave politely and appropriately, especially around young kids. However, I tend to agree with what Jocelyn stated--14 seems to be a good cut-off age with Halloween parties a more appropriate venue for older teens. That seems very reasonable.

Jocelyn - posted on 10/30/2010

I think up to 14 years is acceptable. Beyond that, you can still celebrate Halloween, but a party would be more appropriate.