Halloween was this Wednesday and many students and teachers from East Leyden geared up for another exciting year.

Halloween is a time for everyone to dress up as whoever they want to be and just have some scary fun.

“It’s the best holiday ever. You get to scare people and there is free candy,” senior Deja Cook said.

“I love Halloween; you can dress up and be silly,” math teacher Jerome Patt said.

As a child you dress up and go trick-or-treating and spend the whole night switching candy with your friends and siblings, but as you grow up Halloween doesn’t seem to have the same oompf factor.

In the past, Cook would go out trick-or-treating on Halloween just like so many other kids, but this year she decided against it.

“This year I’m probably going to stay home and hand out candy to the little kids, this will be my first year handing out candy,” Cook said.

For some teachers whose children have grown up and don’t go trick-or-treating anymore, Halloween becomes a time to stay home and hand out candy as well.

“I used to love taking my kids trick-or-treating when they were kids,” Patt said.

Patt’s 4 children are now 14-22 years old and they have stopped trick-or-treating.

So why is it that Halloween isn’t the same anymore for teenagers?

“It isn’t socially accepted for adults or teenagers to go trick-or-treating. Teenagers are just at an awkward age where they can’t go trick-or-treating and can’t go to parties,” Cook said.

Students aren’t the only ones that believe that trick-or-treating becomes obsolete when growing older; some teachers think the same.

“If an adult came to my house to trick-or-treat I would tell them to go away. It’s a childish thing to do and they should have their own jobs to buy their own candy,” Patt said.

But don’t worry, because this doesn’t mean that Halloween would just continue to be a downfall. Teenagers might be left out this Halloween season, but there are future Halloweens to look forward to as they get older.

“I don’t think that just because I don’t trick-or-treat that doesn’t mean that Halloween won’t be fun. Once I get older I can go parties, so it’s okay,” Cook said.

There are a variety of ways to celebrate Halloween no matter what age you are. So, whatever your take on Halloween, have a safe and fun holiday and Happy Halloween!