As the month of October comes to an end, the night of All Hallows Eve soon approaches. While this holiday once meant candy and costumes, the traditions are starting to fade amongst high school students. Even so, there are a few who cling to the activities of their childhood. Most of the rest, however, have advanced to the kind of house parties that run up until midnight. This begs the question, are teens today still trick-or-treating?

Some students were asked whether or not they would be participating in the age-old traditions of Halloween night anymore. “I won’t be trick-or-treating this Halloween as I feel that I’m too old for it now,” said junior Ahsan Amir. He goes on to add how his plans for the evening are to just spend time with good friends, nothing too Halloween-ish. 

Speaking on the matter of participating in Halloween activities, it is still a common trend for teenagers to get in the festive spirit by wearing costumes.  “Depending on the occasion, such as a party, I would dress up [in a costume],” said Amir.  

When it comes down to the main event of the night, trick-or-treating, age can be a deciding factor on whether or not it should be done by some people. “[In my opinion] kids should stop trick-or-treating at the age of 14, when they start high school,” said Amir. 

Another student, junior Grace Luebke, shares the same opinion as Amir. “In my opinion, I would say 13-14, so like the end of middle school, and it’s because as we become teenagers, we start acting a certain way. Trick-or-treating is a kid based thing, and teenagers are not [always] very child appropriate. I feel like going out being surrounded by kids and kind of bringing that sort of un-kid friendly energy around it I feel would ruin it in a sense.” 

Although she herself won’t be trick-or-treating this year, Luebke still plans on dressing up in a costume for a party. “I’m going to be a witch, and I’m really excited about it! I think that dressing up for Halloween is really what makes it the most fun [part of the holiday], ” she said. 

Divya Kuruba, a junior at Independence High, shares how she is caught between the sentimentality of a key childhood experience and the desire to party like a high school student. “I [would] want to go trick-or-treating for the sense of nostalgia. [On the other hand] I also want to have the experience of going to a house party,” said Kuruba. Even though she is on the fence with her plans for Halloween night, “I would still dress up even if I weren’t trick-or-treating,” she said. 

Among the snippets of conversations one can overhear while walking through the halls, it’s fair to say that there are definitely teens out there who would be thrilled to trick-or-treat once more. Some of the most special memories from childhood are made on Halloween night, and that can be seen in any age group. So long as people exist, they will always want to hold on to the special moments that made them who they are.