Over the past few decades, the percentage of children trick-or-treating has declined rapidly. What was once an age-old tradition anticipated by children across America has lost many participants at a rapid rate. The decrease is not just in overall participation, but also a shift in age range, with teenagers over the age of 14 taking up a much smaller percentage of trick-or-treaters compared to in the past.
Teenagers across Arrowhead seem to miss the old-fashioned tradition of trick or treating each year on Halloween night. In a local survey conducted at Arrowhead, only 18% of students are going trick-or-treating this year, while 100% of students miss the tradition.
“It’s a concrete representation of how society forces your inner child to grow up too fast,” Ava Trainor, senior, said.
Many other students agree with Trainor that the decision to stop trick-or-treating was not made by themselves, but rather by societal pressure and fear of being too old and judged by others. This decline not only affects teenagers but also many candy companies and costume stores that are steadily losing sales due to the lack of children dressing up and going out. The number of trick-or-treaters lost is truly tragic for America’s youth.
