Letting Children Trick or Treat Without You

5th grade...so 10 years old. In a group of at least 3-4 kids.
No cell phones necessary. They know the neighborhood well and many if the people in it along the way.
They stop and dump their loot halfway through. Lol

In my community, I see a certain ethnic group that trick or treat with grandparents, parents and children--I am like damn, who is at their home handing out goodies? No one...

I stopped going with my child at about age 8 as we lived in an apt complex and he and the neighbor kids went only in the apartments. I stayed home and handed out candy.

I love handing out candy as without doing so, the tradition would not continue for generations of new trick or treaters.

ETA: I also give candy to anyone who comes, no matter the age.

My kids would have been fine to trick-or-treat without an adult when they were 8 or 9 years old, as long as they had friends with them. We live in a safe neighbourhood with which my kids are very familiar. Our trick-or-treating goes from 6:00 to 9:00pm, so it is completely dark, but my kids wear blinkie lights and are very safety conscious. I went with my 12 year old last night because none of his friends wanted to trick-or-treat (they decided they were too old for it), and my 9 year old was going with a group of his friends, so I went to keep him company.

ETA: When I was a kid trick-or-treating without parents was the second best part of H'ween (next to the candy). The reason was we were usually expected to come home when the streetlights went on, so H'ween was the only time we were allowed to stay out after dark. It was also the safest night to stay out after dark with so many people out and about, and drivers being extra cautious of kids roaming the streets. Also, we lived (and still do) in a pretty well lit neighbourhood.

My kids started going out with friends in middle school (6th grade here). Before that I tagged along. Now in 7th and 8th grade, they go out with a bunch of friends and have a fantastic time.

I think my kids would be pretty unhappy if I insisted they come trick or treating with me at the age of 13... It would be fine if that's what THEY wanted, of course.

My 14 yo granddaughter went trick or treating with several friends close in age to her. This is the first year we've allowed it. Last year I followed along but I couldn'T keep up. They were so excited. They also were safe which is part of the reason for me to be comfortable with it. We live in a safe neighborhood. In which I've lived for 35 years. I've trick or treated here wiTh my daughter and now my grandchildren.

White middle class suburb. Hubs took kids age 9 and 11 around ..grandma came over to help pass out candy since she lives in the country and doesn't get any trick or treaters any more.

I saw kids as young as 7 going around alone in the dark and thought what the heck...I saw a group of 5 girls having a blast in the 13 yo rangee...I wondered if this might be their last year as I thought the " rule is after 13 yo were supposed to stop collecting candy.

We are also noticing a tend for the adults to congregate in one driveway and have alcohol for the other adults walking around..if u are part of that party you just bring your bowl over and set it on their tabke..so that one house has candy bowls from 6-9 other families.

One of the party participants called out to us...if had joined my hubs and kiddos...he was making small talk and implied we were over protective and that he didn't even know where his 8 and 11 yo girls were but we're sure they were fine...

We aren't part of the cool crowd and our kids don't run around the neighborhood in a pack so I think we will take them around until they have a group of friends I can trust to watch for them or until they truly truly don't want us.

I guess for me...they went alone when they were comfortable!

Maybe some had to 'go' earlier than they felt comfy...but *I* was the parent at home...and *I* gave out the candy (unless a kiddo wanted to stay home while *I* took a younger kiddo around).

More often than not, an 'older' has taken a 'younger' for the candy pay off!!

(I know that is why *I* volunteered...)

Geesh...this is your only kiddo? Then I would have him (her) hook up with a friend at the age of 8...but my neighborhoods...ALL folks knew each other! Sorry IF I mis understood!!

Mine started going with their friends around age 7 or 8. They were always in groups, had glow sticks or flashlights and were in a low traffic area so I was fine with it.

My kids are 12 and 15. This is the first year they didn't go with us. My 12 yo went with his friend from church and his family and my 15 yo went with her church friend, and her friends. They were all 15-17 and no parent went with them. She had her phone with her so we thought if she got tired and wanted to come home, she would call us and get her. That's what happened. lol

My hubby was sad since he stayed home with me but he dressed scary and scared the kids, so that sort of made up for it. lol

We love trick or treating and will probably want to go with our daughter until she tells us not to.

And to answer a poster below, no, I don't think 13 is too old to trick or treat. I'll give candy to any kid, no matter what age, who wears a costume and comes to my house. I love dressing up, and if someone is polite and also dressed up, why not give them a piece of candy? No need to be a scrooge.

Around here you see more groups of children around middle school ages going together and no parents. I had some come through that are in 9-10th grades as well.... however, I have taught most of them since 1st grade and many come by to say hi because they know I make a big deal out of Halloween.

I saw a lot of parents mainly with younger children 10 and under. I also had a couple of helicopter parents who were actually asking for treats for their children and one mom was helping herself to decorations on my table. I just told her "if you really need décor that badly, go ahead and take it but that is decoration, not treats". She put them back.

I closed up around 9 and turned lights out but stil got 3 groups ringing the bell. Hubby took card of them.

All in all it was a good night a wide variety of children.

My boys went out together. They're (almost) 12 and 13. I was the EMT at our church's Fall Festival, but the festival was right next to a big safe neighborhood of houses, so once they'd tired of the festival, I told them they could go. "Stay together, be back at 8:30, use good manners and don't be jerks to one another." That's all I told them.

I think 8 is a bit young. Not because I'd be worried about anyone kidnapping him or anything, but because he's lacking the maturity and independence that a few more years will bring.

13 is plenty old enough to decide to trick or treat with friends or mom and dad. I think it's kind of weird to go completely alone and would be rather boring.

When I was in 5th grade, I was in charge of taking the group of girls in the neighborhood around. There were about 5 of them.

I would have been 11.

Once our daughter was in middle school, she seemed to always have a friend hosting a Halloween party so she would attend and then they would trick or treat in that girls neighborhood.

This year we had less teens trick or treating, because the neighborhood High School had a football game last night.

I think we stopped at about 13, but they went in big groups and had phones.

Why would a 13 year old be too old to spend a holiday with his parents? I'm grateful my 12 year old still wants to be with us. We go with several families, so there are other kids to be with. And while I know she wouldn't get into mischief, kids that age do and it makes her really Uncomfortable. So I'll go with her as long as she wants. I hang back on the side walk, but why push them away if that's what they want?

Eta - trick or treat here is from 6-8 so it's mostly dark. We were done by 7, though, and our group ranged in age from 6-12 with 4 of the 7 kids being 12, then 10, 9, and 6, with three moms.

When I was a kid we could go out in a group without parents once we were in middle school (7th grade). We took our kids out last night, and although I let the 10 year old lead the way (with a friend for part of the time) I don't think she will be on her own next year. I still needed to reminder her to slow down, look both ways, say thank you, etc.
Maybe she will be ready when she's 7th grade? I wouldn't let my kids go out alone regardless of age. Numbers are always better.
When I was in 6th grade I was 6 ft tall and a lot of houses told me I was too old to trick or treat. So I will give candy to parents as long as they have a costume and say trick or treat-it's just fun! There shouldn't be an age (or height) limit!!!

Interesting to see responses about kids as old as 13 and 14 trick-or-treating at all. My 13-year-old wanted to stay home and hand out candy rather than go out herself, and I know a lot of her friends this age felt the same and stayed in or went to friends' houses to hang out for the evening. I think once a kid is about 13 and up it's time to leave trick or treat to younger kids, but that's me....If kids 13 or so want to go, the question of whether an adult goes along depends greatly on the area and the hours involved. We live in a safe area but I still would accompany my young teen (walking near but not right with them) if she were trick or treating -- if only to ensure she and her friends were paying attention crossing streets. It's a safe area but the street lights are dim, and kids having a good time are going to pay a lot less attention as they're walking around at night.

My son is 7, 8 this month, and he told me a few weeks before Halloween that he just wanted to stay at home and pass out candy. He ended up changing his mind and we went to a local mall that was passing out candy. When we got home it was already dark. There is only one street light on our street and it's in front of my house, so it was pitch black the rest of the street. As I was driving in, I could barely see the kids walking around unless someone had a flashlight. I wouldn't feel comfortable with my son going alone in our neighborhood until my son is at least a few years older.

One pet peeve though which makes me not even want to bother with trick or treating is people who leave their porch lights on and aren't even participating. My son went to four of our neighbor's houses when we got home around 6:45 and only one person answered, even though all of the houses had lights on. I've noticed this more and more as we've been out trick or treating through the years. I had my light on from 7-9 and only had one kid come to the door. Doesn't seem worth it much anymore.