Sørensen Madsen – Trick-or-Treating

Sorensen Madsen LE P&W Children Jan 2019

Download PDF Here

Should trick-or-treating be illegal for people above the age of 16? by Sørensen Madsen

Sørensen Madsen, eleven years, is from Sweden. Sørensen is in the 7th grade. His hobbies are playing computer games.


I don’t really know if trick-or-treating should be illegal for kids aged sixteen and above. As it does provide some with an excuse to vandalise and to not follow the law.  However, many teenagers may have other reasons why they are out trick-or-treating. Maybe they are out with their siblings.

But a problem with the law is that the Police Force will have to have more police officers on the street and the police station may not have enough funding for that. However from what I have heard, the police already have “undercover” policemen/women on patrol so the law may give the police more power to enforce and punish people who break the law.

All that depends on what the rules of the law actually are. Is it only illegal if teenagers ask for candy? Or if they are dressed up? Or if their face is covered? What are the actual limits of the law? Because if the law is vague it can be abused.

People will always be scared of something. Last year it was “Killer Clowns.”  The year before that it was razor blades in candy and apples. People were afraid of razor blades but there weren’t actually any accounts of candy with razor blades in so I think the main reason people are afraid of small things is because it is to do with their children.

For example, in my town, people from 12 grade went on a “clown hunt” because 14 different kids had seen a “killer clown.” But I think it was more for fun and something to do, perhaps they were just bored.  And I don’t think it is going to help because boys/girls will be boys/girls. I also don’t think teenagers trick-or-treating is the problem. The kids in Chicago who damaged those cars, i don’t think that trick-or-treating made them go insane. But I have to admit that Halloween makes “bad eggs” go out and have fun because it is a good way not to be caught as it is pretty hard for the police to find the person who smashed your window when it could be any kid in town.

In the end I think the law has its own pros and cons.


© Sørensen Madsen