Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. There always comes an age when children have to outgrow the fun and start embracing reality. One thing that does come under debate is whether or not high schoolers are too old for trick-or-treating. Many will say yes, including teens themselves.

Halloween can be a fun time. There are parties, trick-or-treating, and of course, dressing up. But, many students do not go trick-or-treating after the age of 14. This is due to the childish factor being involved in approaching a neighbor’s door, yelling “Trick-or-treat” and extending a pillowcase for Halloween goodies.

Many teenagers would rather dress up and go to a party or “banger” to immerse themselves in the “high school life.”

One point that could be made to combat teens trick-or-treating would be that the neighbors do not go out and spend loads of cash on bags of candy to give out to those who already have jobs and can buy their own candy if need be or even teenagers who could obviously gather candy from younger siblings or neighbors.

The logic of adults buying candy for almost adults seems backwards as most of the candy used is in “fun-size” packages which are clearly geared toward young children. Do 16- and 17-year olds truly want that packet of six M&M’s and feel they must storm the neighborhood and scream the good old’ phrase to every house they pass by?

Another point to be made is that Halloween is an escape for children to run out and have fun. They can enjoy themselves and not have to worry about the high schoolers stealing the entire “take one” bowl.

Additionally, teenagers love to cause problems on Halloween. They are notorious for jumping out and scaring kids and even parents, which can all be fun in games until the wrong child or adult is scared.

The trick-or-treating aspect was built for kids to explore the neighborhood and gather that once-a-year treasure, while teenagers can dress up in more mature costumes and celebrate with a party or even just go to work.

The final reason is that a difference needs to be understood between maturity and fun. Kids need to release their energy in some form, and teenagers can release it in others. If a 17-year-old is running around dressed as a ghost and taking candy from every house, where does the line get drawn on what else is considered fitting for one’s age? Teenagers can find many other ways to enjoy themselves on Halloween like adults would, rather than regressing to their roots of a 10-year-old and searching for the houses with king-size bars.