Did you know that there is a law against children above the age of twelve going trick-or-treating? 50% of people at Apex High School answered that they didn’t know about this law. I personally knew about this law, but I did not know the full extent of it. According to Citylab.com, if you are above the age of twelve,  then it is against the law to trick-or-treat unless you are supervising a younger child, or it is after 8:00 p.m. If you are caught trick-or-treating above the age of twelve, it is counted as a misdemeanor, and you can face fines up to $500. You could also possibly face up to six months of jail time. 

Although I’ve known about this law, I have not followed it. I have been trick-or-treating up until the age of fifteen years old because candy is candy, and who wouldn’t want free candy. I am not the only one who has been trick-or-treating above the age of twelve. According to a poll I conducted, 84% of people at Apex High School voted that they have also gone trick-or-treating above the age of twelve. I personally think that this law is dumb, and if someone above the age of twelve wants to go trick-or-treating they should be allowed to because you are technically still a kid. Although,  I think that if you are going trick-or-treating, no matter your age, you always have to dress up. If you don’t dress up, then you shouldn’t get candy. The whole point of Halloween is to dress up in a costume!

I may not agree with this law, but I guess I can understand why it was put in place. According to Citylab.com, (fix font) “Halloween night in 1967 was wild in Portsmouth, Virginia: One teenager flung a firecracker into a younger trick-or-treater’s bag, and another used a steak knife to stab a fourteen-year-old who stole a bag of candy.” This is a valid reason to have laws put in place to prevent situations like this from happening again, but it is unfair that some random kids over forty  years ago had to ruin it for everyone.

These laws may be different for each state, but as for North Carolina, these sadly are the laws that have been put in place. I see police officers around everywhere on Halloween, but they don’t really focus on enforcing this law. They are too busy making sure everyone is safe, rather than focusing on who is above the age of twelve and still trick-or treating. I would still be careful if you plan on going trick-or-treating, but you could always claim you’ve never heard of such a law. Happy Halloween, everyone, and stay safe when trick-or-treating this year!