Every year on October 31, people around the world celebrate Halloween with neighbors, friends and family. Children enjoy many different Halloween traditions like trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins, but there may be an age when they start to grow out of it. As teenagers grow up, they may start to celebrate differently than they did when they were in elementary and middle school. “There’s a point in life where trick or treating is just not fun anymore,” sophomore Haoming Huang said.

By the time that kids finish middle school, they seem to have hit the age where children’s Halloween traditions are no longer enjoyable. “Once you’re out of middle school it’s lame when you take all the candy that’s meant for younger kids,” freshman Sophia Beach said. “This Halloween, I’m going to do something to get in the spirit some other way, like maybe go to the Fields of Fear,” a popular Halloween attraction at Cox Farms in Centreville, Va.

This brings up the question of what should teens do when they don’t have trick or treating anymore? “This year, I just want to chill with friends and escape the stresses of school,” freshman Sean Werfel said. “I’m hoping to hang with friends and maybe scare a few kids,” Huang said. “Hopefully I’ll have fun with friends and still be able to get a little candy,” freshman Harry Cantor added.

Traditions and activities are what make up a holiday season. “I love everything we do around Halloween like, listening to Halloween music, carving pumpkins and going to the annual neighborhood block party,” Werfel said. “We love baking a pumpkin pie every year,” Cantor and Huang added. 

As teens surpass the trick or treating age, it is fun to look back on how they celebrated as a child. “I loved feeling independent when I first started to get candy without my parents having to knock on the door for me,” Cantor said, as he looked back on his childhood trick-or-treating adventures.

Even though teens may be considered too old for trick-or-treating, it is still possible to enjoy the holiday as they begin a new chapter of life.