What Is the Average Age to Stop Trick-or-Treating?
At what age should kids stop trick-or-treating? The answer is anything but straightforward. In a 2017 Today Parents survey of nearly 2,000 respondents, many people thought kids should stop going door-to-door around when they hit their teen or even tween years: at age 12 or 13. Almost three-quarters of respondents said that by age 17, trick-or-treaters should hang up their costumes and leave the holiday festivities to younger children.
Is It Illegal to Trick-or-Treat Over Age 12?
Some towns across the country (and Canada) also think limits are in order. While they’re difficult to enforce, there are ordinances on the books in some municipalities that limit trick-or-treating to younger kids. A few years ago, citing concerns about older kids stealing loot from younger ones and general fears of mischief, the Canadian town of Bathurst, New Brunswick, proposed a local law forbidding kids 16 or older from trick-or-treating (with a fine of $200), and ending the Halloween evening festivities, full-stop, at 8 p.m. (The new guidelines would be more flexible than previous ones, which limited going door-to-door to kids 14 and younger and asked them to be done by 7 p.m.; some parents felt this earlier curfew didn’t give them enough time to get home from work and take their children out to celebrate.) The town of Apex, North Carolina, has had an ordinance on its books since 1973, prohibiting anyone older than 12 from trick-or-treating, and only until 9 p.m. Belleville, Illinois, enacted a rule in 2008, similarly capping the trick-or-treating age at 12. Other towns—in states from Virginia to Mississippi—have set up similar restrictions in recent years.
Why the Worry About Trick-or-Treaters Being Too Old?
What’s the concern about older kids taking part in the time-honored candy tradition? Fear of bullying or vandalism may come into play. Local officials point to safety as a primary reason for the rules and acknowledge they’re hard to enforce. But they say putting the word out before the holiday keeps most of the older crowd in check. It’s up to local municipalities to decide whether they want to put age limits or curfews on Halloween festivities. The National League of Cities doesn’t keep track of towns with ordinances, so it’s hard to know how broad the trend is of enforcing a trick-or-treating age cutoff. And the issue of enforceability is a big one, acknowledges Sheena Collum, village president of South Orange, New Jersey. “With items such as alcohol or cigarettes, it’s relatively easy to enforce,” Collum says. “With respect to the idea [of trick-or-treating], I’d find it difficult to enforce, difficult to identify the penalty for the infraction that fits the ‘crime,’ onerous for law enforcement, and last, I don’t think it would sit well with our community.” None of the parents Real Simple interviewed saw any reason for a legal limit on trick-or-treating age. “Curfews and age limits are really overreaching,” says Emily Hynes of Wayne, Pennsylvania. “Each community has its own personality and tends to self-regulate. And you can’t control rudeness or mischief with a curfew.” Allison Foltz Millmoe of Oakland, California, says, “My gut instinct is to say stop at 13, but then again, I would much rather teens be trick-or-treating than getting into trouble on Halloween. And older sibs escorting younger kids is great.”
The Final Verdict
The best guideline might simply be the general mood in your town. If community festivities are geared toward little kids, perhaps encourage older ones to watch a scary movie with friends or host a casual party at home for your kid’s squad (or a family or neighborhood party for all ages to enjoy). Or, embrace the idea that teens aren’t too old to enjoy the innocent fun of touring the neighborhood collecting candy. “I like it when they get dressed up with friends and go,” says Lisa Marinelli Smith of Gulf Breeze, Florida, the mother of two teenage boys. “It’s about being with friends and having fun. Teens enjoy being creative with their costumes, too. I don’t see the pillowcase-carrying teens dumping bowls of candy into them.” One caveat: If older kids do trick-or-treat, remind them that their late-evening behavior needs to be appropriate at all times—especially with so many families with young kids out and about.
