Should You Trick-Or-Treat This Year?

Evanthia Voutsakis

10.25.19

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How do you know when you’re too old for something?

A simple-sounding question with a not-so-simple answer. We high schoolers (and even middle schoolers as well) are at an odd age I like to call the Inby Tweens. (In Betweens, but since most of us are teens/tweens...get it? Get it??) The Inby Tweens make up a HUGE grey area--actually, more like a Jackson-Pollock-esque area splashed with white, black, and grey--when it comes to “stuff” we’re too old for. The answer to the question usually depends on what the thing is, and what its effect is on you: will it prevent your growth as a young adult, or is it just a result of peer pressure? How will removing this thing from your life affect you? And, realistically, how much longer can you do it before it becomes as ridiculous as a 35-year-old businessman puzzling over Elmo’s persistent goldfish problems? At this stage, it’s almost always up to your judgement as a responsible young adult what you should and shouldn’t do.

For now, the most pressing problem is Halloween. Tons of teens every year face the inevitable: “Should I be trick-or-treating this year? And if so, is this year my last?” The question is widespread, and everybody has different opinions, so let’s first look at the holiday’s origins to see who was intended to participate in the first place.

According to Albany University, the original Halloween started as the Celtic New Year Festival, which featured villagers of all ages dressing up like witches, goblins, and other scary creatures to avoid being possessed by unfriendly spirits. Roman influence from the celebration of the goddess Ponomia (the goddess of fruit and trees) added in the tradition of “bobbing for apples”. Once Christianity started having influence, children participated in the Danse Macabre and dressed up in grotesque costumes to signify the seven Maccabees’ Biblical deaths.

By the 1950s, kids and teens had started to practice pranks and vandalism, so “trick-or-treating” was encouraged to stop the stunts. However, the door-to-door hunt for loot most likely had origins with “souling” in Europe, in which people would receive food in return for prayers for the deceased on All Saints’ Day or All Souls’ Day. Both children, teens, and adults participated in “souling”, as well as the Celtic roots of Halloween, but as the holiday became less superstitious and religiously based, adults slowly stopped participating in the going-out part of the holiday. So, there’s no law, official cutoff, or traditional taboo for older kids to go out on the 31st.

So now that we know the possibilities, let’s weigh the pros and cons of teen trick-or-treating in today’s society. We’ll call them “Boo!” or “Wahoo!”

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Weigh these options as you will--it’s up to you whether you decide to don the mask and embark on the annual quest for candy. But before you do, consider this final reason to trick-or-treat, that also happens to answer our most central question about “age-appropriate” behavior…

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Nostalgia

We’re teenagers now. We’re walking the bridge from childhood to adulthood, and that bridge is definitely not the smoothest, nor most stable. It doesn’t help that every day, we’re reminded to be more responsible, take liability for every action, think about the future, and all other things that, yes—are crucial to becoming good, well-balanced, young adults—but still put an enormous pressure on all of us, no matter what age or era. Halloween is the one night a year that we can get a break from that pressure and relive some of the simple joy we’ve experienced as children. Finally, we can once again dress up, go out, be a kid, and have a good and safe time in our neighborhoods--all while earning a sweet treat.

Have a safe and spooktacular Halloween!