Logic dictates that trick-or-treating is for kids who dress up, run around, and populate the areas of local dentist shops after Halloween. But no matter what age you are, trick-or-treating can be enjoyed by anybody seven to seventeen and beyond.

Nothing is more thrilling then sprinting house to house in a local suburb knocking on doors, piling Hershey’s, Reese’s Cups and everything in between, into your pillow sheets.

“I was the teenager that trick-or-treated,” principal Thomas Leitz said, “[but] if you can drive, you’re basically a mini adult trick-or-treating.”

Halloween is the highlight of October for all ages, so limiting a fun activity to a younger crowd is unfair, culturally speaking.
Teens still watch “SpongeBob,” a show that is meant for little kids but relevant in media as a full feature film. A film that grossed $56 million dollars in February 2015, according to “USA Today.” I still watch cartoons on the off chance that I have no homework or I am relaxing, especially during winter, where being outside is less favorable to a warm blanket and hot coco.
I harbor a soft spot for tricking-or-treating. I love the smell of fall, the costumes and the homemade haunted houses in garages. If I, a seventeen year old, want to trick-or-treat respectfully, why can’t I? Hooligans are the ones who go out on the night of pagan tradition and scare little kids; playing practical jokes that go too far cause an adult assumption that trick-or-treating is for little kids, and no one else.

Adults may not trick-or-treat, but still have parties and dress up. Are adults a little too old to dress up as characters their children adore? Characters that splatter the screens on Saturday mornings, where children laugh and giggle at jokes adults find redundant?

Halloween is neglected, even though its great for the economy.

While preparing for Halloween, according to history.com, Americans spend a total of $6 billion on costumes and candy every year. That’s second only to Christmas. I think that’s pretty important; it’s great for business.

I miss the days where school was a half day on Halloween, a day to be someone else for once.

“You’re never too old to trick-or-treat,” senior Saxton Baumann said, “but to get candy you have to dress up.”

Halloween also adds décor to an already beautiful season: fall.

“I like seeing the decorations,” Baumann said. “Fall is my favorite season.”

The one thing I will miss from Halloween at school is dressing up, which isn’t allowed at Utica anymore.

“I feel like the ban shouldn’t be a thing,” senior Dominic Santangelo said. “Anyone who dresses inappropriately should just be sent home.”

No matter what, I am looking forward to this Halloween.