Is There a Legal Age Limit for Trick-or-Treat in Massachusetts?
We're almost halfway through October and Massachusetts residents are preparing for the upcoming holiday.
While hundreds of thousands of people flock to Salem, Massachusetts, another 1.5 million pass through the Berkshires for fall foliage. Visitors to our state come to embrace the autumn season and enjoy what residents know is the best time of the year in Massachusetts.
While adults in Massachusetts enjoy the stunning fall foliage, warm days, and cool nights, most kids in the Bay State are just waiting for that bid Halloween candy hall, Trick-or-Treat.
Trick-or-Treat dates and hours vary between municipalities across Massachusetts, and there aren't a ton of "official" rules that go along with the holiday tradition. One topic debated every year is what age is too old to go Trick-or-Treating.
In Massachusetts, there is no official cut-off age for Trick-or-Treaters.
However, there are some other places around the county where they do. According to the Today Show, Chesapeake, Virginia passed an ordinance deeming the maximum age of trick-or-treaters to be 14. In fact, those who violate this order can actually be charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor. Chesapeake isn't the only place in Virginia that have Trick-or-Treat age limits in place. Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk, and more prohibit the activity for kids 12 and older.
Upper Deerfield Township, New Jersey, has one of the oldest Trick-or-Treat laws that was implemented over 30 years ago. which prohibits children older than 12 from participating.
Taking it to a next level. Belleville, Illinois, (where Trick-or-Treat is apparently referred to as 'Halloween Solicitation' prohibits children over the age of 12 from wearing a mask, and children in 9th grade or older cannot "appear on the streets, highways, public homes, private homes, or public places in the city to make trick-or-treat visitations" according to Parents Magazine.
Charleston, South Carolina doesn't allow children over the age of 16 to wear a mask in public places, including Trick-or-Treat.
Should there be an age cut-off for Trick-or-Treating in Massachusetts?
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