The older a person gets, the more stigma there is around going trick-or-treating.
One year your with your friends planning out which houses have the full-sized candy bars and the next year it’s no longer cool to go trick-or-treating.
Why does everyone see trick-or-treating in your late teens and early twenties as a horrible thing? As a third-year college student, I have never needed or appreciated free candy more than I do today.
The Canadian Press agency stated that in the Canadian city Bathurst, New Brunswick, city council members are trying to prohibit people over the age of 16 from trick-or-treating, according to Newsweek’s article “Are you too old to trick-or-treat on Halloween? In this Canadian city, you might be.”
According to Newsweek, some cities in the United States including Bishopville, South Carolina and Belleville, Illinois have gone so far as to ban trick-or-treating for anyone over the age of 12. The cities have decided on these bans because the crime rate is at its highest on Halloween night, and they believe this will lower crime rates.
However, there is no definitive proof to show that this ban has helped. In my opinion, not allowing young adults to go trick-or-treating would give them free time on Halloween to get into trouble.
Corey Gokan, a Thousand Oaks resident said, “I don’t mind giving to older kids who show up. If they come in a good costume I’d give to someone who was 70 years old. I just feel like you never see anyone older than 13-ish trick-or-treating.”
Gokan went on to say that he believes that most of the houses in the Thousand Oaks area would be more than happy to give candy to young adults and college kids.
“There’s a lot of older people living around Cal Lutheran and I think a lot of people around here are either happy to see anyone or they just leave their candy out anyways,” Gokan said.
Travis Haul also lives in the Thousand Oaks area and said he too would give candy to people of any age who came trick-or-treating at his door.
“Honestly I wouldn’t think much of it, I’d probably be more concerned that if I didn’t give them candy they would TP my house,” Haul said.
Haul said that giving out candy isn’t an issue, it is just that people might be afraid.
This Halloween, one shouldn’t feel the need to go to a party and get drunk. There’s no shame putting on a costume and going door to door with a couple of your good friends asking strangers for candy
Who knows, maybe while your roommate is coming home sick from alcohol poisoning, you’ll be lying in bed, eating free candy.
Anne Mukai
Reporter