teens dressed up for halloween trick or treating

Should Teens Go Trick-or-Treating?

One of the best things about being a parent is re-living all the fun things from childhood, through adult eyes, with our kids – but there’s a question many parents ask themselves when their kids start to creep toward adulthood: when is it time for teens to stop trick-or-treating?

Here at BACA, we think you’re never too old to enjoy Halloween.

But that doesn’t really answer the question. Adult Halloween parties are common, and they’re a different thing altogether. What we’re curious about – and what many parents are curious about, is the question of trick-or-treating, teens, and how to keep fun alive on Halloween without it being weird or awkward.

In general, we think it’s fine to trick-or-treat right through senior year of high school, and perhaps bring the trick-or-treating phase of life to an end around age 18. However, that’s not a hard and fast rule: older teens who want to trick-or-treat should find a way. They can chaperone siblings, help out in the neighborhood, or find other scenarios where they can trick-or-treat. For instance, some colleges and universities have on-campus trick-or-treating, which may include fraternities, sororities, or dorm-hall trick-or-treating – and those all sound like good fun.

But a group of high school friends dressing up and going out for candy?

Within limits, we say, yes, absolutely – but parents should know their kids, know the risks, and make sure there are firm guidelines in place for the evening. There are also lots of other ways for teens to have fun on Halloween without trick-or-treating.

In this article, we’ll offer advice for parents of teens who want to go trick-or-treating, address mental health stigma associated with some Halloween costumes, share statistics from a survey about trick-or-treating, and end with suggestions for how teens can have fun on Halloween if trick-or-treating isn’t on the agenda.

First Things First: Avoid Stigmatizing Costumes

Halloween costumes have changed over the years. Aside from the curious/strange phenomenon of sexualized versions of every female Halloween costume available – we want to take a moment to address Halloween costumes that perpetuate stigma around mental health, so we can help parents and teens avoid making an honest mistake and increasing, rather than reducing, mental health-related stigma.

Common costumes that perpetuate stigma:

  • Killer Clown/Psycho Ward costumes
  • Kid’s “Psycho” costumes
  • Hospital gowns/scrubs covered in fake blood
  • Costumes mimicking or implying straightjackets

The basic idea here is that we don’t want to create new or reinforce existing unconscious connections between mental health disorders and things people should fear, such as ghosts, goblins, witches, zombies, and the like – and certainly not with psychopathic killers covered in blood.

Here’s how Dr. Joe Pierre addresses costumes like these in an article in Psychology Today:

“Mental illness is not an amusement park ride. Mental illness is not a horror move and mental illness is not a Halloween costume. Don’t dress your child up in a straightjacket, and don’t wear one yourself.”

That’s an important point, and one most of us probably don’t consider. We’ve grown up with Halloween including images that connect mental health with fear and bad/scary people/monsters. We understand this is part of Hollywood Halloween, but here’s the thing: we don’t have to participate in perpetuating this negative stigma around mental health, at Halloween or any other time of the year.

Teens and Trick-or-Treating: How Old is Too Old?

Halloween, as the traditional stories go, is the night of the year when the veil between the seen and the unseen – the barrier between us here living in the world, and those who’ve passed on to whatever is next – is at its thinnest.

To honor this auspicious occasion, we dress up in costumes that often represent that other side. And the tradition of trick-or-treating honors those who have passed, too: originally, kids went around knocking on doors, asking for treats in return for saying prayers for those in the household who’d passed over in the preceding year.

That’s the treat part.

The tricks are nothing new, either, with reports and articles detailing turn-of-the-century Halloween shenanigans among teens, and others warning of the risks associated with nighttime trick-or-treating, especially for younger kids.

Also – much to our surprise – we found a survey conducted in 2015 by the reputable scientific pollsters the 538 Blog about the topic of this blog. The polling experts designed a survey to find out what a representative cross-section of U.S. citizens thought about trick-or-treating. They asked two questions: 1) How old is too old for trick-or-treating, and 2) How old were you when you stopped trick-or-treating?

In a survey of close to 1,000 participants, here’s what they learned about the first question:

At What Age Should Teens Stop Trick-or-Treating?

  • 18% say age 13 is the oldest acceptable age
  • 14% say age 12 is the oldest acceptable age
  • 12% say age 14 is the oldest acceptable age
  • 13% say age 15 is the oldest acceptable age
  • 18% say trick or treating should never end
  • Fewer than 5% say ages 9, 10, 11, or 17 are the oldest acceptable ages

In a second survey question, this one answered by close to 900 respondents, the 538 team asked:

At What Age Did You Stop Trick-or-Treating?

  • 25% stopped by 12 years old
  • 17% stopped by 13 years old
  • 13% stopped by 14 years old
  • 7% didn’t stop until after 18 years old
  • Fewer than 5% stopped by age 7, 8, 9, or 17, while around 6% stopped by age 11

That survey, more or less, took the temperature of the nation with regards to teens and trick-or-treating. As an aside, 58 percent of people surveyed plan on giving out candy to kids, and we’re not sure what the other 42 percent plan to do on Halloween. Our default position is that you’re never really too old to trick-or-treat, but we do think adults or older teens – college age kids – shouldn’t be out trick-or-treating among younger kids without, themselves, accompanying other kids.

We definitely think parents of younger teens should dress up and enjoy the fun – that is, if it’s legal in your town.

Criminalized Trick-or-Treating: Places Where Teens Can Get in Trouble for Trick-or-Treating

This article published by National Public Radio (NPR) compiled this list – which is not comprehensive – of places where local law forbids teenagers from trick-or-treating:

  • Chesapeake, VA formerly had a law against teenagers going trick or treating that carried a penalty of up to six months in jail. However, due to widespread public outcry, officials changed the law – but teens over age 14 who go trick or treating can still be charged with a misdemeanor.
  • Jacksonville, IL has a law on the books making it illegal for teens 13 years or older to trick-or-treat. Here’s how that law reads:

Sec. 16-7. – Trick or treating restricted.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the act of solicitation, commonly known and referred to as trick or treating, except as hereinafter set forth in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) The act of solicitation commonly known and referred to as trick or treating may be practiced only by children who have not reached their thirteenth (13th) birthday, and then only during the day preceding Halloween and Halloween Day, and then only before the hour of 9:00 p.m.”

  • Rayne, LA also has a law prohibiting people 13+ from trick-or-treating.
  • Belleville, IL has a law that makes it illegal not only for anyone over eighth grade from trick-or-treating, but also requires people over 12 to get legal permission to wear a mask or disguise on any day but Halloween
  • Charleston, SC prohibits people teens over 16 from trick-or-treating or waring a mask in public.

In addition to the laws preventing trick-or-treating for teens over a specific age, it’s not unusual for a city or town to set a specific time window for trick-or-treating, or at least designate a time trick-or-treating must stop. For instance, in Taft, Texas, people are allowed to trick-or-treat from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm only. The text of the law – violation of which incurs $200 fine – explains why:

“The practice of persons in previous years on Halloween night in roving all over the city late at night has become, in the opinion of members of the city council, undesirable, and imposes additional duties on members of the police department to protect minor children who leave the immediate vicinity of their residence, and the movement of such minor children creating an intolerable situation.”

Fair enough: we assume the authorities in Taft know what’s best for their community, but they seem to overstate the problem somewhat. With that said, for parents of teens who live in a town where trick-or-treating is legal – and plan to let their teens go without supervision – we have some suggestions for making it a fun and safe experience for everyone.

Tips for Parents: Teen Halloween 2024

For a group of teens going trick-or-treating this Halloween, we suggest parents consider these five guidelines/suggestions.

Teen Trick-or-Treating for Teens: Five Guidelines for Parents

1. Understand Your Teen.

Teens with a history of the petty vandalism associated with Halloween, such as damaging decorations and/or smashing pumpkins, should probably not go trick-or-treating in an unsupervised group. However, if you know your teen is in it only for the costumes and candy, then yes, let them go!

2. Understand The Peer Group.

Groupthink can take over and lead your teen to places and behaviors they might not explore themselves. If your teen asks to go out with a group of rebellious teens known for edgy behavior, we call it a firm “No.” However, if your teen asks to go out with a group of teens you know are – again – in it only for the costumes and candy, then yes, let them go!

3. Set Expectations and Outcomes and Make a Plan.

Make it clear that any disruptive/antisocial behavior will result in an outcome they may not love. In addition, your teen should be able to tell you exactly where they plan to go, and who they plan to go with. “Just a few of us are gonna hang and walk around – not sure where,” doesn’t cut it. Without a solid plan, we say it’s a no-go.

4. Check the Group.

Ideally you can check – meaning see with your own eyes – everyone your teen plans to trick-or-treat with. The best way to make this happen is to make your house the meeting spot, but if you can’t, then drive your teen to the starting point, talk the the parents there, and get on the same page with all the teens and adults involved.

5. Set a Firm Ending Time.

Most people agree the sweet spot for Halloween candy hunting is between 6 and 9 o’clock in the evening. It’s best to wait for dark, so it feels spooky out there, but there’s really no good reason to be out and about after around 9: we don’t see anything wholesome and kid/teen friendly happening once it starts getting late.

We think that set of rules/guiding principles can set the stage for fun Halloween night. The main idea is for everyone to know there are rules, understand what they are and why you’re making them, and emphasize the fun part of the event. It’s about costumes, candy, and enjoying the spooky idea that the spirit world just might be close at hand, but it’s safe out there, because they know it and we know it, too.

But What if My Teen is Over Tricks and Treats?

Your teen may be past the dress-up-and-go-get-a-pillowcase-full-of-candy phase, which in itself is a milestone, but they’re not too old to enjoy Halloween, for one reason:

No one is too old to have a great time on Halloween.

Here are some teen-friendly alternatives to trick-or-treating:

  1. Scream Team! Your teen can invite a group of friends over for a Halloween Movie Marathon. They can watch anything from the seriously scary, like the Nightmare on Elm Street Movies, to something fun, sentimental, and innocuous like the many Scooby-Doo Halloween movies made over the years.
  2. Haunted Houses. These get better every year. New costumes, creative scenarios, and inexpensive lighting and decorating options have transformed the traditional haunted houses we used to know into seriously frightening experiences that will leave even the most cynical, too-cool-for-school teen quaking in their sneakers.
  3. Host a Party. Teens that are over the trick-or-treating scene can think about what makes Halloween special for them and their friends, and then host a party that caters to exactly what they want out of the night. Costume contest? They can do it. Scary movies, like we suggest above? They can watch them. Decorate the house and hand out candy to neighborhood kids? Yes, they can do that, too. Just hang out and act cool? Yes, they can have that party, too, if they must.

Finally, if your teen is genuinely past everything Halloween, then we can’t help. What we can do is wish you a Happy Halloween, and wish them a pleasant Thursday evening like any other, devoid of anything Scaretastic, Ghoulicious, or Spooktacular.