It’s no surprise that trick-or-treating is dying out with middle schoolers. But why? Why do 6th, 7th, and 8th graders stop trick-or-treating? Don’t they want to dress up and have fun with their friends? Don’t they want free candy? Where are the middle schoolers disappearing to?  

West Middle School student, Enzo Nocera, says he is not a “trick-or-treating type of guy”. Enzo does not really know if he will be trick or treating this year. Enzo Nocera does not like dressing up for Halloween, “It is a waste of time and money.” Enzo, along with many other teens, thinks that Halloween is boring. “An appropriate age to stop trick-or-treating is around 10,” he explained. “It’s not worth it to have to go outside in the cold to get a few pieces of candy. You can just buy some at the store.”

Eugene Brown, another West 7th grader, thinks teens stop trick-or-treating because people want to stop giving free candy to older kids. “Adults like giving candy to little kids. When they see a teenager at their door, they might refuse to give them anything.” Eugene referred this statement to an article he had seen a few weeks back. “I saw a story on the news that said adults have stopped giving candy to kids ages 12 and up.”

Enzo Nocera thinks, “You should definitely go with friends on Halloween if at all because it makes it more fun and it gives you more safety. It gives you more safety because with more people you can defend yourself better. If you go alone on Halloween you can get kidnapped or even worse.”

Nocera says, “Middle Schoolers might think that trick-or-treating makes them uncool. At least that’s how I see it.”

Dillon Starnes, another West 7th grader thinks, “Middle schoolers will be embarrassed to be seen out trick-or-treating.” Starnes said that people get peer pressured into not going trick-or-treating on Halloween. “Somewhere along the way, it becomes embarrassing to dress up to get candy. I don’t want to trick-or-treat because my friends might laugh at me.”

However, most middle schoolers still trick-or-treat. 18/23 people in Mrs. Horvath’s seventh grade Journalism class still go out every Halloween. 13 of the 17 people that still trick-or-treat say they dress up as well.

So, is it fact or fiction? Do middle schoolers still trick-or-treat? One thing is for sure, there are still many teens trick-or-treating this Halloween, even if they aren’t broadcasting it.