Halloween is one of, if not my absolute favorite holidays. I'm one of the biggest fans of the spooky atmosphere, dressing up in costumes, free candy, and great late-night parties as much as the next person. However, there's one thing about Halloween that has been bothering me as of lately and this is something that most definitely needs to stop: the discrimination and exclusion of others in the Halloween fun.

This may sound like a stupid thing to be annoyed about, but it happens a lot more than people realize. There are many towns in the United States, including Bishopville, Virginia, Meridian, South Carolina, Boonsboro, Maryland, and Belleville, Illinois, that have made legitimate laws against children over the age of 12 to be trick-or-treating, with many towns issuing fines up to $500 or up to 30 days in jail for doing so. The only thing I can ask when it comes to this is... why? Why would anyone be so concerned about teenagers going trick-or-treating where they absolutely have to make laws forbidding them to do so? There are so many things throughout the country that desperately need laws to be created for that, and this is the kind of law that towns are creating?

One thing people should be asking before creating these laws is one thing: is anyone getting hurt with others doing this? If not, why is a law being created regarding children trick-or-treating over the age of 12? I can understand if there have been issues in the past with these towns when it comes to teenagers vandalizing other peoples homes by throwing eggs at or TP'ing houses, but while I was finding sources for this article, I could not find any major or ongoing incidents in any of these towns when it comes to vandalizing homes around Halloween.

Another thing to realize when it comes to this is that teenagers are legally still children, so they should still have more time to just be kids.

One of the biggest criticisms when it comes to "this generation" or "kids these days" is that they're growing up too fast, so why is that same generation complaining about this making it worse? While adolescence is a different stage of life than childhood is, the universal age where one legally becomes an adult is 18, so why is it such a terrible idea to just let kids be kids?

I personally never thought I would have to ever address this, but the fact that several towns in the United States are making these laws not only makes me angry but also makes me upset. I really do feel bad for all the kids in these towns who were looking forward to getting all the free candy this year but not getting the opportunity to do so because of these laws.

I will be one to say that I've been trick-or-treating until I started college, and I have no shame in admitting that, so why should these kids feel bad about wanting to do something that others are saying they're "too old" for?