Halloween is every child’s dream: free candy, crazy costumes, and staying up past bedtime. When teenagers intrude upon these traditions, they spoil Halloween for the children.

“I don’t think that teenagers should be trick-or-treating because it takes away from the younger kids’ experience because the older kids are getting candy instead of the younger kids,” Rebecca Johlie, sophomore, said.

This holiday is open to all ages, of course, but age-appropriate ways to celebrate exist for everyone. Costume parties can be fun and do not affect how children enjoy their holidays. Everyone can still enjoy the fun of dressing up and eating candy, but they should do this with their friends somewhere that is away from the trick-or-treaters.

Setting an age limit for trick-or-treating would be impossible and too extreme. Teenagers need to use their best discretion when deciding how to celebrate Halloween; if they are going to be a disruption to parents and children having fun, they should not participate.

“If you like [trick-or-treating] and really want to get into it you can do it. But for the teenagers that wear the clothes they went to school in or really weak costumes, they should just stay home,” Melissa Wood, senior, said. “If you look at all the kids that go, they go out and they actually get real costumes.”