Halloween with new fright; Maryland sets limits 

LEIGHA MACBURNEY , Reporter

 

     Costume. Candy. Curfew.  Each year kids from all over the world get dressed and ready to Trick-or-Treat but Maryland is finally cracking down on what can be worn, how late children can stay out, and how old they should be.

     According to Stacey on belairnewsandview.com, in 2011 the City of Aberdeen and the Town of Bel Air recommended time to Trick-or-Treat between 5 and 8pm while the Town of Havre de Grace is between 6 and 8pm.

  While the time limit might seem reasonable,  two to three hours is not enough time to get through a whole neighborhood.   If Trick-or-Treating starts at 5pm, but a child’s parents don’t get home until 6, they miss one hour of time to get candy.  Not only did they need to wait for their parents to come home to go out to Trick-or-Treat, but some kids can’t even get into the costume by themselves. 

     The goal of a child on the night of Halloween is to get as much candy as they possibly can. Setting a time limit isn’t a bad idea, but making it so short seems vastly unfair.

     Equally as frustrating is that many towns are also restricting the age at which should trick or treat.  In fact, in 2018 Baltimore WJZ reported that many Maryland towns restricted the age of trick-or-treating to under 12.  Again, this might seem practical ,but entirely impossible to manage. 

     Teenagers should not get hate for wanting to go out for Halloween. If teenagers want to trick-or-treat, they should be able to if they are respectful and let the littler kids go first. But anyone handing out candy should not be disrespectful to teens just because they still genuinely enjoy the Halloween experience.

      Baltimore WJZ also reports that  the Town of St. Micheals in Talbot County is restricting “anyone over the age of 12 from wearing a mask within town limits”. As of right now this is just in the Town of St. Micheals. If it works for them then why wouldn’t another county’s give it a try. This limits the creativity a child can have on Halloween and the different costumes can be worn. 

     It isn’t up to the town or city to restrict what children can wear, it is up to the parent of the child. The parents should make the restrictions that they feel necessary for their child.

     So the lesson here is this:  Don’t set limits on Halloween;  instead, embrace the fun and enjoy the crazy creativity of the night!