Every Halloween, thousands of kids across the country dress up in costumes and go door- to-door to receive free chocolate and candy. This represents the one day of the year where parents wouldn’t warn their kids to be suspicious of taking sweets from strangers. 

But the key word is kids. How old is too old to go trick-or-treating?

Some counties such as in Chesapeake, Virginia have limited trick or treating to children 14 years or younger. However, this rule seems to be more unspoken since they haven’t made any arrests or given fines to people over the age limit getting caught in costume.

Popular Late Night Host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the law on his show. “Don’t get me wrong, I do think trick or treating should be limited to little kids, not teenagers, but not with the threat of incarceration,” Kimmel said with a laugh. 

 I support what Chesapeake County has set for the community to an extent.  The one thing I would change is to extend the age limit to 17 since the age of 18 is the legal transition to adulthood. 

The only role that adults should play in this event is to be a designated driver for a group of teens or be a guardian for young kids when they are walking around. 

However they should not be going door to door asking for candy. 

I believe that most teens would agree with my opinion on the age limit to go trick-or-treating. A survey stated that 73 percent of teens believed that the people aged 12-17 were actually too old to go trick or treating. 

This Hallowen, I won’t be going trick-or-treating but I will still find ways to celebrate the holiday. No matter what I do, watching a scary movie or carving some pumpkins, I will make sure that a big bag of candy will be involved.