The Great Halloween Debate

The+Great+Halloween+Debate

by Prottusha Sarkar, Staff Writer

Trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to eat! most kids in Glen Rock can certainly remember that halloween-y tune that sung on the edge of doorsteps; dressed up as mostly witches or Supermans and out on the streets with orange, plastic pumpkin baskets to hold the golden load: candy. Laughter rang out that afternoon coupled with the omiscent Ding Dong of doorbells. However, at the high school level, not many people actually celebrate Halloween, let alone go trick or treating, and the debate over whether teenagers should or should not go has become quite the controversial topic amongst classmates.

On one side, people claim that teenagers are never too old for a little fun, as Mandy Rosengren (’16) says “They [teenagers] are NOT too old!!!…, no one is ever too old for candy and trick or treating.” The other side of the argument claims that “…high schoolers are too old since Halloween is more of a kid oriented holiday when it comes to trick or treating.” (Nicole Vasoll (’16)) These people think that Halloween is more of a ‘kid’s things’ so we as teenagers should leave it to the kids to have their fun, and continue on with our lives.

Paula Teramae (’16) however comes up with a different reason as to why many of high schoolers don’t celebrate Halloween the way kids do. “Halloween has been and always will be a social event so it is highly dependent ont he amount of people going with you.” Which is exactly correct, Halloween is a social event, where what one does and when and where ones does it is determined by the people around them. As kids, everyone trick-or-treated, so it was a normal, and well-accompanied event. As teenagers, not everybody celebrates Halloween by trick-or-treating, or even dressing up for that matter. So what do high schoolers do? According to Paula “…they [teenagers] settle for a party.”

At the end of the month, as Halloween inches closer, the decision to dress up or head out in search of candy remains unanswered. The two different opinions mentioned above encompass a majority of views on the subject. So now, it is up to the reader; To trick or treat, or to not?