The woman I’d eat bees for loves Halloween. It’s not just the beauty of the trees as the leaves change from green to orange, yellow and other autumnal shades. Nor is it just the pumpkins, gourds and hardy mums lining the walkways and stairs in front of houses. Sure, she loves those things, but what really sparks joy for her is that Halloween evening often feels like one big celebration.
Typically, in the neighborhood we live in, we get hundreds of trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. While the rain sometimes dampens the numbers, it has rarely rained on Halloween night. Even when it does, we register a visitor count in the low hundreds. Homeowners new to the neighborhood are often taken aback at how many visitors we get, but they learn quickly that if they want to participate, they will need to be prepared for the onslaught.
In 2020, while many of us were still working or going to school remotely, the Halloween visitors didn’t come. Last year, the numbers were in the low hundreds, but didn’t come close to the volume of a pre-pandemic times. This year, the expectation is that the number of visitors will be close to a typical pre-pandemic Halloween.
Beyond the typical questions that arise about the appropriateness of encouraging kids to eat candy or gathering in large crowds as cases of COVID have been ticking up in the Northeast is a perennial question that looms during Halloween: Should there be an age cutoff for when children should expect to receive candy when they knock on a stranger’s door and say “trick or treat”?
Some readers seem to believe that teenagers have aged out of expecting to have bags, bowls or pillow cases filled with treats. “It’s for the younger kids,” they argue. “Older kids can buy their own candy.”
There should be no expectation that anyone should have to participate in giving out treats nor judgment if they choose not to. It’s also up to each parent to decide if he, she or they want to let their child go door to door and, if so, starting at what age. Keeping the trick-or-treaters safe regardless of their age is a concern for parents and neighbors engaging in the practice.
It’s also up to each individual to decide what kind of treat they want to give out. Unless you’re going to ask for an ID check, it seems impossible to institute an actual age check. If you want to give out candy, just give it out until you run out or grow tired. Then go inside, turn off the front door light, and be done.
My wife has a different approach when apparent teenagers approach the door in makeshift costumes. “How old are you?” she asks them. Often they hesitate and sometimes they seem to shave a year or two off their actual age. But after they answer, she goes to the stash she keeps of full-size candy bars and gives out to the teenagers rather than mini-size candy bars she’d been distributing to younger kids.
“It’s one of their last chances to be kids,” she tells me. “I don’t want to discourage that.”
It’s another of the reasons she loves Halloween.
Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of "The Simple Art of Business Etiquette: How to Rise to the Top by Playing Nice," is a senior lecturer in public policy and director of the communications program at Harvard's Kennedy School. He is also the administrator of www.jeffreyseglin.com, a blog focused on ethical issues.
Do you have ethical questions that you need to have answered? Send them to jeffreyseglin@gmail.com.
Follow him on Twitter @jseglin
(c) 2022 JEFFREY L. SEGLIN. Distributed by TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
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