Students attending university often get the title “college kids.” If they’re going to be dubbed this, they should get the same privileges a kid would, like being able to trick-or-treat.

But as we get older, we’re expected to give up this night of fun, with Halloween being seen as a children’s event.

But, we’re still kids, and we deserve to have the same amount of fun we did when we were younger.

I’d argue that college students need this experience more now than when we were kids. 

The most stressful thing I had to worry about when I was in my prime trick-or-treating era was trying to remember the multiplication tables. Now, college students have to worry about classes with unrelenting homework, how to pay for said classes, as well as housing, car insurance, gas and the list keeps going. 

Life is far more stressful than it was when we were children. We need a night of juvenile fun to take our minds off real-world problems, if only for a night. 

Trick-or-treating on Halloween is also an easy way to hang out with friends. It’s hard to make time for a social life as a student. Walking the streets in costumes is a time for hanging out with friends, having fun and hopefully getting some free candy.

I’ve been told multiple times over that we’re the younger generations’ role models. 

I’ve never seen a 5-year-old upset that an 18-year-old was out trick-or-treating. When I was 5, seeing my role models doing the same as me would have made my night — more than the bag of candy I got. 

Children learn from watching us. If I had kids, I’d want them to learn to go trick-or-treating rather than participate in other potentially dangerous Halloween activities. 

Halloween parties are a common occurrence, and let’s be honest, you can find alcohol at most of these. According to a survey done in 2023, Men and women over the age of 20 all reported drinking an average of at least two drinks on Halloween, with men and women 20 to 24 years old drinking the most of any age group. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2022, nearly half of the fatal crashes on Halloween were alcohol-related. 

Safe to say, parties shouldn’t be the default way to celebrate Halloween for college students, but they’ve been perpetuated as a normal occurrence in (insert media) Trick-or-treating is a safer alternative to Halloween parties. Not completely safe, but safer than getting drunk and then getting behind the wheel all in the name of having the “college experience.”

Sometimes I just want to dress up in a silly costume and get free candy. Is that so wrong? I’m a broke college kid, and sometimes I need a candy pick-me-up. Especially with Halloween falling in the middle of a semester, that sweet treat could mean the difference between a good day or me sobbing in my room. 

So maybe instead of passing unnecessary judgment on your peers who go trick-or-treating, maybe you and your friends should try it again. 

You may just have the fright night of your life.