With Halloween right around the corner and everybody is preparing their costumes, decorating their houses, and buying their candy. Many students are dressing up and going trick- or- treating, while others aren’t. Do students who don’t participate in the fun, candy-filled holiday we all love still care about Halloween?

Lots of parents enjoy dressing their kids up while they’re young, because they know once their kid hits that “tween” phase, they may start to drift away from dressing up. Although some teens still dress up, Valeska Rivera, junior, gives her opinion by telling us, “I’m still dressing up! I don’t care if it’s cringe or lame to dress up. I will always dress up no matter what. Last year I was ‘Where’s Waldo’, this year I’m gonna be Jeff the Killer.” 

On the other hand, some students have surpassed dressing up. Curtis Givens, a freshman, said: “No, I don’t dress up for Halloween anymore because I just grew out of it, and for the past couple of years I’ve just been taking my siblings to go trick or treating.” In this statement that Curtis Givens gives us we can see him mention how he still takes his younger sibling out to trick -or- treat. Do students who don’t participate in Halloween anymore have to now take on the duty of looking after their younger siblings who still enjoy the spooky holiday? Adriana Rich, a freshman told us this about what its like trick -or -treating with a younger sibling. ” Me and my youngest sister are close in age, so it was never really me babysitting her when we trick or treat. We were the ones getting babysitted by either my two older sisters or our dad.”Overall, whether students choose to keep dressing up or choose to take on the mission of looking after their younger siblings, Halloween continues to be a time for quality time with your family.

Participating in Halloween doesn’t just mean simply dressing up and trick-or-treating; it can also mean decorating or handing out candy. While Halloween is something that most students go all out on when they are young, that doesn’t always carry into their teen years. Could an answer to that be that these students are just bored? Kayla Jimenez Valderamos, a senior, told us, ” I’ll never get bored with Halloween cause I get new adventures each year, and I’ve been trick or treating my whole life, so I have to keep the streak.” Even though some students may lose interest in the holiday as they get older, others, like Kayla, show that Halloween can still be an exciting, adventurous holiday.

  Although most kids grow up and their memories of Halloween start to fade, some memories from their younger years are cherishable enough to bring into their teen years. These “cherishable memories” can range from a chaotic spree on Halloween night to a heart-warming family moment. Ashdon Viegra, a junior, said, “ My best memory of Halloween would probably have to be a couple of years back, when I would take candy buckets that people leave on their porches with my friends. Plus, we never got caught, so that added to the fun because if we had gotten into trouble, it probably would’ve been a bad situation for all of us to be in.” Another chaotic event comes from Dominic Winston, a sophomore. ” One time, a few years back, I was at a house down the street, and this guy tried to jump scare me from inside the bush. I  smacked him with this toy bat I had.” 

For many students, the holiday also brings their family together, reminding them of the sweet and wholesome times they felt as kids. Allison Avilla, junior, told us, “All I can remember is competing with my older brother on who can get the most candy at the end of the night. He always got more than me either way. Another favorite memory  I have is how scared I used to be of the scary decorations people would hang up.”  These heart-touching family moments can double as another reason that some teens continue to celebrate this holiday.

Some people in high school consider Halloween to be more of a kids’ thing; reasons why they could feel like this could simply be due to the fact that they just grew out of Halloween and the dressing-up bit. Halloween is able to be split into two age groups: teens and kids. Aeliah Sanchez, a junior, feels this way about the debate on whether Halloween is a holiday for kids or teens. “I feel like it’s more of a kids’ holiday because the kids get to trick or treat and they get to dress up. Once you get older, you honestly get a little bored with it all. Another reason I feel like it’s for kids is because little kids just get more excited for all the candy, because usually when you’re younger, like that, your parents are more strict about your sugar.”  On the other hand, Samuel Membreno argues,  ” I consider Halloween to be for both kids and teens because it can be enjoyed by both. Teens and kids both enjoy it because of the dressing up. Most kids go with their parents to trick or treat, while teens also do as well, but it’s not as common as seeing the kids with theirs, so with teens and Halloween, they probably like the freedom more, that’s a reason I like it.”   In the quote that Samuel Membreno provides us, you can see where he said it’s more common for parents to be alongside their children while trick-or-treating. Can parents’ interference in their child’s Halloween experience drive their child away from the loveable holiday?

The question “Is Halloween still relevant to high schoolers?” will always remain a rhetorical question. We could never really determine only one answer to the question since everyone will have a different answer.  So, what do you think? Is Halloween still a holiday you enjoy?