But I imagene the kids did have parental support. It is very diffucult for a child under 10 to improvise a costume with no money and no guidence. If Mom works late and isnt around to tell you what you can borrow or what you can cut up or whatever, you are SoL. I live in one of the least expensive apartment complexes in my city, and I regularly see 6 and 8 year olds with no costume on Halloween. I pretty much assume that no un-costumed child under 12 is that way by choice–every elementery-age kid I have ever known LOVED to dress up, and dressed up every chance they got. Laziness is just not an issue with kids this age, and I suspect that they are the ones most likely to take a sign saying they are not welcome seriously.
On the other hand, I have mixed emotions about kids over 12 trick or treating at all, and I certainly think that any child approaching puberty is mature enough to come up with some sort of costume. For that type, I think that hard candy, or even better, pennies, might be appropriate.
Hey, what’s wrong with teens trick-or-treating? As long as they aren’t causing trouble, then they’re fine. (Speaking as someone who will possibly go trick-or-treating this year for the heck of it)
Amen. That’s the idea. Cheaper than my plan, too.
(My plan involves the cheapest, rottenest-looking pumpkins available and small explosive charges with electric detonators…non-costumed kids get splattered with rotten pumpkin guts…)
My feeling is, if teens want to go trick-or-treating, then they need to go the extra mile to be in the spirit of things: they’d better be cheerful rather than sullen, and they’d damned well better have a decent costume.
If they’re old enough to shave, and if they don’t bother to dress up, but still want candy, then forget it. And that goes double if they’re wearing that I-didn’t-ask-to-be-born look on their faces. If they aren’t having a good time, even while collecting scads of candy, then they should figure out how to celebrate their Halloween in a way they might actually enjoy.
Sunday night I helped give out candy at my friend’s house in town. (We live out in the sticks – no trick-or-treaters at our house.) We got the usual lame teenagers with lame costumes, but the worst one had no costume and no bag. I gave him one peanut butter kiss – blecch is right!
I told my friend that I was giving the good stuff (chocolate) to kids who had good costumes and/or enthusiasm. Some of these kids, you couldn’t even hear them say “trick-or-treat”! Heck, when we were kids, we belted it out at the top of our lungs! I got a lot of funny looks last night for saying “I can’t HEAR you!” Between that and the look into the bag, as if to say, “What kind of crap did you give me?,” I don’t know if I want to do it again.
We did like the tiny cowboy who attempted to stick us up with his tiny toy gun. He was obviously kidding and we made a generous contribution to his bag.
Satan, I thank you. You have just reminded me of yet another topic on which I need to educate my husband, who will be handing out the candy for the first time this year.
Teens want to be accepted as adults, yet persist in behaving like kids. Gee, and you wonder why everyone here is more or less hostile to the concept of teen trick or treaters.
Hey, it doesn’t matter whether we behave like kids or not, we’re never gonna be accepted as adults. Most of us who realize that just gave up and act like adults when the situation calls for it, and like kids when appropriate. After all, what are teenagers but people caught between childhood and adulthood? I don’t see anything wrong with acting your age. And yes, I’m going trick-or-treating – but I’m wearing a costume that I made myself (with care) and being enthusiastic about it. Also, little kids get first dibs, it’s only fair.
I agree that if you’re not wearing a costume there’s no point in doing it. No clever ideas here, though.
How 'bout having your ‘big ass sign’ over something kids don’t really like, and have another one with some cool stuff for the dressed up ones?
To those of you who are teens and still go trick or treating, I gotta tell you, I’d LIKE to not give to some of the hulking, sullen teen boys that come to my door and stick out a grocery bag…‘Whatcha got lady??’ But, it’s unnerving to think of looking UP at them and telling them to get the heck off my porch!!
I tried the stunt of not being here on Halloween, and they tore up my bushes, THAT was a lot more expensive to have redone that handing out the candy, and hoping the thugs are finally out on another street this year!
My last TorT year was when I was fifteen. I think that’s okay. And I DID dress up…as a maid, at the last minute, but I was going to be a cat originally and that year it SNOWED so we had to put on extra layers. We were nice and said, “Trick or treat!” It was fun!
Hell, one year I dressed up to help take my friend’s brother around on Halloween! We didn’t trick or treat (although a few of my friend’s neighbors gave us candy since they knew us).
I agree-anyone over the age of 12 not in a costume should get crap-my idea:
Tampons.
Oh, and condoms. Lotsa explainin’ to do to Mom and Dad!
(As for taking pictures of the kids…in this day and age, not a good idea…)
When I was in my teens I hated to dress up, but we would still go out for candy. We kind of expected little, and just really went to a few houses before we tired of it.
Some of the guys were brassy about it, but the girls would want to hide behind a pack of little kids to look like we were with them. If we got nothing, though, we weren’t surprised, because it did seem like we were too old.
Here’s the fix, give only candy to the kids that dress up. For the kids that show up with no costume, snag some non-presoaked charcoal and throw that in their bags. Either that or a walnut.
They’ll think. “Charcoal? WTF?” or “A Walnut, man that guy sucks, some health freak, I am not going back there next year.”
Really, why wouldn’t people dress up? Because they don’t feel like it? Seems to me that without the costume, it’s no longer trick or treating. It becomes door-to-door panhandling for candy.
Good candy for the costumed kids, one of the myriad aforementioned items for the spoilsports. (I especially love the idea of small paper bags filled with junk and a note for those non-costumed children.)
Any child that is not only dressed up sufficiently, but performs some act such as singing or dancing or just playing their chosen role well, should get a little extra candy.
I don’t have a problem with some teenagers trick-or-treating; after all, the group “teenager” ranges from 13 to 19. 19 year olds should definitely not be trick-or-treating, but 13 and 14-year-olds should get a little something (provided they are dressed up). Teenagers should get less candy than younger kids.
I wish I lived in an area that had a large population of little children, because I would enjoy handing out candy to those who deserve it. Unfortunately, I live on a college campus, which means for me Halloween will probably consist of drunken roommates and obnoxious pranks.
