Ding dong. The trick-or-treaters must be here! These are some great costumes! Hey, it’s that same kid again in the same pumpkin costume. He’s come by every year now, it’s like I’ve watched him grow up. He’s gotta be in what, high school now? He must be cutting it close, he’s growing a little too old for trick-or-treating…

Everyone loves free candy, dressing up, and trick-or-treating, but at what age do the adults start to stare and the kids start to glare? When does dressing up as a cat go from too cute to too old?

For one Oakton student, the frowns began many moons ago in the sixth grade. “I don’t do Halloween because last time I went with [friends] in sixth grade, this old lady gave me a look like ‘Aren’t you too old’? Plus, I don’t like Halloween,” said junior, Maggie Sparling.

Sparling is not the only one on the receiving end of odd looks. “I don’t go trick-or-treating because my friends won’t go with me. Another reason is because I’m really old and old people think it’s creepy when a 16-year old knocks on their door for candy,” said junior, Catherine Hiu.

For other students, the weird glances from adults are not the problem. “Hmm…[I don’t go trick-or-treating because] I’m too busy,” says junior, Harin Ok. While age is one determining factor in why Oakton students no longer go trick-or-treating, students say they simply do not have time.

Since the weekend is only two out of seven days a week, Halloween typically falls on a school day. Trick-or-treating generally starts early in the day to score a better selection of candy, and proceeds late into the night to ensure maximum candy collecting. As students, this leaves little to no time for school work. Along with extracurriculars and sports, many Oakton students cannot afford to trick-or-treat.

All in all, Halloween seems to lurch to a halt in high school. But hey, who’s to say majority rules? Halloween only comes around once a year and we’re not young forever, so do as one pleases and trick-or-treat as much as the heart desires, Cougars.