It is likely that parents, non-parents and teens alike have questioned whether they or someone they love have become “too old” to participate in Halloween festivities.
Although there’s no nationwide trick-or-treat age limit, some municipalities have tackled the fraught issue by setting their own rules at the local level.
When over 9,000 people were asked, “how old is too old to trick-or-treat?” 47% of respondents said “never” while 19% said between ages 15 to 16, according to an ongoing non-scientific poll by Today.
A poll run by Slate found that 40% of readers think 12 should be the cutoff age for trick-or-treating.
Here are some of the cities and towns that have placed age limits on trick-or-treating.
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Where are there trick-or-treat age limits?
Charleston, South Carolina, restricts trick-or-treating for teens over 16, who also aren’t allowed to wear a mask in public places, per state law.
Several cities and towns in Virginia have trick-or-treat age limit laws in place – including Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg, York County and Hampton.
Chesapeake, Virginia, limits trick-or-treating to kids 14 and under. The City’s trick-or-treat ordinance was updated in 2019 when the city council voted to remove the penalty of jail time and to raise the age limit from 12 to 14. The previous ordinance included fines of up to $100 and up to six months in jail time.
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Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk, and more prohibit trick-or-treating after age 12.
Belleville, Illinois, forbids children over age 12 from wearing a mask, and those in 9th grade or above can’t “appear on the streets, highways, public homes, private homes, or public places in the city to make trick-or-treat visitations.”
In the town of St. Michaels, Maryland, only children ages 12 and under can go trick-or-treating, according to their town code.
Should you refuse candy to older trick-or-treaters?
The Emily Post Institute, which offers advice on etiquette for handing out candy on Halloween, said that even if it may “seem ridiculous or even intimidating” to give older children in costumes candy, hand out treats anyway.
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“After all, Halloween is an occasion for teens to enjoy just as younger kids do. For many teens, it’s one of the last vestiges of childhood that they can still participate in,” a blog post explained.
Experts also say that accommodations should be made for children with special needs and developmental differences. Some children may appear older than their age or are at a different developmental stage than what is associated with their chronological age, Vanessa Lapointe, a psychologist and author of “Parenting Right From the Start,” explained to Parents.com.
“Many children with special needs are developmentally much younger than they appear. It is about developmental age and stage, rather than chronological age and stage,”Lapointe told the outlet. “Remember too that not all developmental differences are visible, so go with the flow and trust that parents have made the right call in having their child out for the evening.”
Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY’s NOW team.