Halloween has always been  my favorite holiday. I absolutely love going door-to-door, seeing my neighbors and telling corny jokes, my favorite being, “What dog can jump higher than a building? Any dog! Buildings can’t jump.” I love seeing the little kids on my street decked out in their super-cool costumes. I love walking my little sister around the neighborhood and having the ceremonial candy trading at the end of the night: it brings me closer to my neighbors and  creates a sense of community.

Trick or treating is an integral part of my All Hallow’s Eve experience, so I tend to get very upset when an adult tells me I can’t because I’m “too old.” In my opinion, high school is the best age to fully participate in Halloween. Finally, I’m old enough to be trusted to walk around my neighborhood without an adult, but suddenly that comes with a dose of ageism.

St. Louis takes Halloween very seriously: Des Moines, Iowa, is the only other city in the United States that requires trick or treaters tell jokes to get their candy. The joke is the “trick” that justifies receiving the candy, or the “treat,” whereas in other places, the candy is just handed out.

Some adults and politicians try to keep teenagers from celebrating Halloween at all with ordinances and complaints, like in Belleville, Illinois, where everyone over twelve is forbidden “to make trick or treat visitations” according to Belleville city ordinances. However, such strategies rarely solve anything. Those who are prone to making bad decisions are going to make those bad decisions, like the group of teens, all between the ages of 12-17, who in Long Beach, California, on Oct. 31, 2007, harassed and assaulted three women. None of the teens were in costume, nor were they participating in other Halloween festivities.

Even though we try to act responsible and be independent, we’re still kids. Our brains and bodies aren’t completely developed, and that’s okay. As most of us are minors, surely it’s okay for us to act our age.

Sometimes, fellow teens can be our worst enemies when celebrating this holiday. When I wore my Halloween costume to school last year, there was disgust from some of my peers, and when I start talking about my absolutely fantastic “Kim Possible” costume for this year, some of my friends are patronizing and condescending, telling me how weird it is for me to trick or treat at the stunningly old age of fifteen. We’ll see who’s laughing when I come to school on Monday with a huge bag full of candy.

I’m not just doing it for the free candy, either. This Halloween, I’ll be trick-or-treating with the best of them, so don’t you dare steal my joke.