Every year, kids across the country dress up and go door to door begging for candy dressed like freaks - and it's adorable.  With the roaming bands of costumed kiddos searching for sweets comes the annual complaints about some kids being too old to trick-r-treat.  When I was growing up, you could dress up and go out until you thought you were too old.  It just worked out that when I started to go to parties and hang out with my friends in my teenage years, I lost interest in collecting candy door to door.

Some cities have taken less of a "personal responsibility," approach, and have decided to apply the rule of law to the situation.  Case in point, several towns in Virginia have laws currently in place that make it illegal for anyone over the age of 12 to trick-r-treat. Most of these city codes and ordinances also strictly lay out a time for these festivities (6-8 pm seems to be the most acceptable window).  The Chesapeake city code Sec. 46-8 outlines it like this:

(a) If any person over the age of 12 years shall engage in the activity commonly known as “trick or treat” or any other activity of similar character or nature under any name whatsoever, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00 or by confinement in jail for not more than six months or both.

(b) If any person shall engage in the activity commonly known as “trick or treat” or any other activity of similar character or nature under any name whatsoever after 8:00 p.m., he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00 or by confinement in jail for not more than 30 days or both."

Proponents of these kinds of laws say that the way to keep mischievous teens from engaging in bulling, vandalism, and / or underage drinking is to enforce a curfew.  Those who oppose it say the opposite: let the older kids get some candy if it keeps them from egging houses or worse.

What do you think?

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