How old is too old to trick or treat?

[boolady]

Um... half the middle schoolers here are adult sized teens.....

Yep. My DD is in 5th grade, just turned 11, and is 5'4 1/4" inches. 1/4" shorter than her mother. Definitely not an adult-sized teen, just a kid having a good time.

[KrisM]

I guess I was thinking about the 6 foot tall boys! Haven't seen any of those at our middle school...

What grades is your middles school? If it doesn't include 8th grade, I can see that? But, many of the 8th grader boys are 6' tall or so. DS1 has a friend who is 6'7" and another who is 6'3". Our robotics team has a couple at 6' as well. It is not unusual for 13-14 year olds to be that tall.

[NCGrandma]

A local TV station recently reminded people that a smallish town near Raleigh has had a local ordinance for the last 45 years prohibiting TorT'ing by anyone over 12...but their reporter was unable to find anyone on the street who knew about it.


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[trcy]

A local TV station recently reminded people that a smallish town near Raleigh has had a local ordinance for the last 45 years prohibiting TorT'ing by anyone over 12...but their reporter was unable to find anyone on the street who knew about it.


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Wow! That nuts!


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[♥ms.pacman♥]

i don't think there is any such thing as too old to trick-or treat, as long as it's a kid (under 18)

i never understood why some ppl get upset over teens trick-or-treating, assuming they are wearing costumes and acting appropriately (not bullying other kids or doing bad things). i would assume going door to door with friends would be better than spending the whole day on their phones or playing video games, or worse (causing trouble, etc). i actually love getting teens at the door, bc usually they have very cool, unusual (often handmade) costumes.

there was a post that went viral a few years ago that was very heartwarming, about a 16yo boy and his friends going trick-or-treating, and being kind to teenagers even though they're not the adorable "cute" toddlers everyone loves to admire during Halloween. i wish i could find it again. (maybe it was Jen Hatmaker?)i don't have teens yet but i can see how it's very tough to be a teen these days and how they can totally sense the feeling of rejection and being "unwanted" by others in times like this. so i think if they get something out of dressing up and ToTing i don't see why that would be discouraged.

i supposed this sort of thing is regional. teens trick-or-treating was fairly common in the town i grew up in. i trick-or-treated with friends all the way through high-school!! one of my favorite memories was trick-or-treating with friends in my bff's neighborhood, bc everyone knew they gave out really good candy. it was a gorgeous, fairly well-off neighborhood so most kids who lived there were older as well. i am grateful to have that memory because now most of that neighborhood was burned down in the CA fires

[nfceagles]

My 12 year old decided he didn't want to go out this year and I was thrilled. I hate ToT, for no real reason other than I simply hate it.


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[Globetrotter]

I think senior year is the cutoff. I don’t have any issues with it- let them be kids as long as they can, as long as they are polite. I feel sad for Ds as he started a new school and doesn’t have any plans, for the first time. He enjoyed tot and coming up with a costume.

[newnana]

I saw this in our town paper and it made me think of this thread:

"from a retired Denver Police lieutenant......made me think.
For those passing out candy this year.....when a teenager comes to your door ....please give them the candy .... with out saying "aren't you too old to be doing this?". ....because they could be out doing things much worse like ....Drinking & driving, vandalizing houses and property, doing drugs, etc ... I would rather they be knocking on my door asking for candy & having safe, legal fun.....let them be kids as long as they can be.
Kids grow up way too fast. Let them spend one evening channeling their inner child ��
Also, please don't refuse a child candy because they are not dressed up. Some children cant afford it or may have special needs that make dressing up uncomfortable if not unbearable.
One last thing, size does not always determine mental age or special needs. In your eyes you may see a "teenager" or maybe even "an adult" but their mental state is of a younger child!

[essnce629]

DS1 is 14 and in 9th grade and went TOT'ing with 4 friends last night. He also dressed up at school.

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[newnana]

got to say, we had more trick or treaters this year than ever. We were thrilled because we moved here from a big trick or treating area. A good half were middle school age and older. DD is a tween and is my height, her bff (also a tween) is 7 inches taller than me. I'm short, but not that short...

Everyone was so polite! super sweet. We ended up putting bowls out on the front porch so we could both walk DD around and socialize in our neighborhood. When we passed our house there were 4 girls probably high school age surrounding our bowls being adorable with each other and deciding which 1 treat to pick and commenting how cute the signs were on the bowls that DD insisted on making. One was a teal pumpkin drawing and the other was a note about leaving treats for the other guys and ghouls. We had way too much left at the end of the night. I'd fill those teens bags if they came back.

We had a couple of high school age boys that were going around with a funny schtick they had worked on that they were doing at every house, but they didn't want any candy, just wanted to go around and perform. So cute.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!