It’s the time of the year when the leaves are starting to turn brown, the weather is chillier, and cafes bring out their pumpkin spice lattes. As October flies by, many people’s thoughts turn to Halloween. For younger kids, this usually means finding the perfect costume and figuring out the best houses to trick-or-treat at. One reality of adolescence, however, is beginning to slowly stop trick-or-treating. Many Berkeley High School students feel like they have outgrown the tradition and now make different plans on Halloween.
For kids and early adolescents, trick-or-treating is one of the most popular Halloween traditions. “I always wanted to have the best costume, like something really niche that no one else is gonna dress up as and…I would pick a really nice neighborhood and go trick-or-treating there,” BHS senior Rainier Townsend said. This tradition is the highlight of many kids’ Halloween celebrations. But after a certain age, usually around middle or high school, many people stop trick-or-treating completely.
“I just thought I was too old for it, and all my friends just stopped going,” Toshi Hollins, a junior at BHS said. This sentiment is very common among teens during Halloween, despite the fun of trick-or-treating. Some people feel embarrassed by going out and asking for candy, while others feel like they’re being judged.
Kanani Maroto, a sophomore at BHS, said, “The way society views us (teenagers) at this point is more like young adults rather than little kids. So I feel like we're more independent to make our own plans and create our own events and activities.”
As kids grow up, the way they act changes, along with the societal expectations on them, so when teens who are deemed too old to “trick-or-treat” knock on people’s doors during Halloween, they may get some weird looks.
While this may be a part of growing up, losing trick-or-treating can still be sad for some people. “I definitely miss it (trick-or-treating),” Hollins said. “It was a really nice thing to do with all my friends.”
Even though many teens don’t trick-or-treat anymore, they find other ways to have fun on Halloween. “At our age it's a little bit less about candy and trick-or-treating, and it's more about socializing and meeting new people,” Maroto said. Halloween parties are a fun way to celebrate the holiday, and have become so common among teenagers that people may attend multiple in one weekend. “I like going to parties… and I like dressing up,” Townsend said. Despite this, Halloween is a great opportunity to spend time with friends, and many students still enjoy the social aspect of Halloween.
Even for those who won’t be trick-or-treating this year, BHS students have found other ways to partake in the holiday spirit. “It's bittersweet to think about it (old Halloween traditions), and that you can't do it anymore,” Townsend said. “But also there's so many more things I can do now.”