Some East Coast towns ban trick-or-treating after age 12. But what about Wichita?
In Virginia, the consequence for trick-or-treating over age 12 can be pretty scary — and far more bone chilling than a bawling out by a grumpy neighbor.
A story published earlier this month in news outlets across the country, including by CBS News, about strict trick-or-treating ordinances went crazy online. The articles pointed out communities, including Chesapeake, Virginia, where local laws threaten would-be trick-or-treaters older than 12 with fines and jail time.
The story got people across the country talking about an age-old question that in many communities, including Wichita, has no official answer:
How old is too old to trick-or-treat?
Should kids cease their annual candy collection ritual once they’re too tall to be princesses and pirates? Should homeowners be expected to dole out mini-chocolate bars to hardly costumed teens toting pillow cases instead of pumpkins?
As Halloween approaches, we informally polled Wichitans over Facebook to determine what this city’s standards are, and (surprise) it turns out that in the heartland, we’re much more relaxed about the matter than east coasters are.
We heard from more than 100 people, and the majority seemed to share the same sentiment: As long as teens behave respectfully, they should be able to hold on to what’s left of their fleeting childhoods and trick-or-treat at will, regardless of their ages.
“An ordinance saying ‘kids can’t act like kids’ is ridiculous,” said Zephyr York, a Wichitan who responded to our poll. “Let them have harmless fun while they can because adulthood is right around the corner for these teenagers.”
Others pointed out that teens focused on collecting candy are less likely to get caught up in Halloween shenanigans.
“I’d rather teenagers be trick or treating than out causing trouble,” said SarahAnne Logan. “I trick or treated till I was about 15, and all the teenagers I’ve come across trick or treating since I’ve had my children have been respectful. Even had one help my daughter pick up all her candy after her bucket broke.”
‘Never too old’
In Wichita, the biggest trick-or-treating event in town is open to teens. Night of the Living Zoo, an annual Halloween party that turns the Sedgwick County Zoo, into a giant candy-collecting Halloween party, doesn’t set age limits for participants, and they don’t deny teens a chance to take treats. (The event is Friday through Sunday at the zoo, 5555 Zoo Boulevard.)
“You’re never too old to enjoy Night of the Living Zoo,” said Jennica King, the zoo’s public relations director. “Activities are tailored toward kids age 5-10, but the entire family enjoys the event. We have plenty of families who all dress up together — parents included — and have a great time.”
That also appears to be the general sentiment at Wichita’s Halloween headquarters: Broadview Street in College Hill. For years, residents on the 100 and 200 blocks of North Broadview have lavishly decorated their front yards and welcomed an onslaught of trick-or-treaters from all over the city. It’s so crazy that each year, between 2,000 and 4,000 trick-or-treaters arrive by the carload.
Catherine Heidel owns a house in the 100 block of N. Broadview, just off of Douglas. Her yard is the one filled with zombie babies, grave stones and skeletons. Four years ago, she moved to College Hill from Derby, where she’d usually get 10 trick-or-treaters a year, maximum.
On Broadview, Halloween night draws all ages, including whole families. And each year, Heidel says, she sees a fair number of teenagers.
They’re welcome, too, she said, and she feels like her neighbors agree.
“I have a very open mind, I guess,” she said. “If everybody is being respectful about being trick-or-treaters, there shouldn’t be an age that you have to cut it off. Here, we get everything. I’ll get high school kids that have a pillowcase and they’re not dressed up as anything, but they walk up and they’re here and it’s fun.”
Time to retire?
Even the country’s top manners experts, the Emily Post Institute, has a soft spot for teen trick-or-treaters. The entry about Halloween Manners on emilypost.com encourages candy distributors to exercise Halloween tolerance.
“Masked teenagers at the door might seem ridiculous or even intimidating, but try to take it in stride and hand out some treats anyway,” the post reads. “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 enjoy.”
Not everyone agrees. A few respondents to our informal poll said that after elementary school, trick-or-treaters should retire.
Lynn Joan Martin had a bad experience with some teens that has colored her thinking.
“Last year, I got knocked down by three teenagers and candy bowl emptied,” she wrote. “Only doing early for the children.”
Maya Daniels, a 19-year-old student at Wichita State University, said that last year was the first year she didn’t trick or treat, but only because she didn’t have time to get a costume together. The year before, she had gone out with her friends and had been told by several homeowners that they were too old to be trick or treating and that their candy was meant just for kids.
Now that she’s older, she has even more creative costume ideas than she once did, but she feels pressure to stay off the streets.
“Why am I not allowed to enjoy childhood for just a little while longer?” she wrote. “I have to worry about student loans and putting gas in the car and going to work. At least let us have one night to forget that and have harmless fun.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 5:46 AM.