Oct 31 2007
trick or treat has rules?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. Thank you for visiting!
Did you know that? And laws even! I didn’t know that until the other day when I went to look up the trick or treating times for our city. I found a little more information than I had expected and it was oddly surprising and kind of weird. We have the usual trick or treat at the mall thing that you can opt to do if you want daylight trick or treat. We actually did this the first year we were down here because we weren’t familiar with the areas. Yeah, totally not fun. Eye Care Offices and Real Estate agents handing out stale gum and business cards was not at all exciting. Maybe our mall just sucks, but it was very boring. The mall wasn’t even decorated! Blech. Definitely won’t make that mistake again.
On to the weird rules and laws. And there are a lot in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Let’s start with Newport News, they city I currently live in.
Trick or treating will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Children beyond the 7th grade or 13 years of age may not participate in trick-or-treating. An adult should escort small children and older children should go in large groups. Only children 15 years of age and younger may wear masks. Anyone 16 years or older wearing a mask in public is breaking the law.
The anyone over 16 wearing a mask is breaking the law thing sort of got me off guard at first. Then I thought about it and I suppose the wolf man could be running around town robbing gas stations and that would kind of suck a little. So it makes sense. But since noe over 13 is allowed to trick or treat what are these 13 – 16 year olds going to do with their mask wearing privileges anyhow? I suppose they could have a Halloween party. But, I would also hope that wearing a mask indoors at a party is okay, as long as you aren’t out running a muck in the streets.
Newport News is the only city in the Hampton Roads area that allows for trick or treaters to be 13, everyone else says 12 and under.
City of Hampton says
It’s a class four misdemeanor if you break these rules in Hampton. However, a parent, guardian or other responsible person, who lawfully has in his custody a child 12 years old or younger, may accompany the child for the purpose of caring for, looking after or protecting the child.
And Norfolk agrees for the most part
Children must be 12 years of age or younger and be off the streets by 8 p.m. A parent, guardian or other responsible person, who lawfully has in his custody a child 12 years old or younger, may accompany the child for the purpose of caring for, looking after or protecting the child. In Norfolk, it’s a class four misdemeanor to break these rules.
Virginia Beach takes it a little further and includes all of that but also adds that
anyone trick or treating after 8 p.m. is committing a class four misdemeanor in Virginia Beach.
So, what are the trick or treat ordinances in your city?
Technorati Tags: trick or treat, halloween
About The Author
Like this post? Click here to rent me a movie and save my sanity. Thank you!
Before you go, don't forget to
Subscribe in a reader for updates.
That’s crazy. I grew up in Virginia and I don’t remember any laws like that for Halloween, but I guess I never tried to trick or treat after 12 anyway… I would have felt silly doing it after a certain point. You know when you are a kid and you get to be 13 you feel oh so very grown up.
Weird Biz’s last blog post..Convert Your Car To Burn Water + Gas To Double Your Mileage
Well, in my part of Virginia it’s not illegal. Everyone goes trick-or-treating and there is no law against it. Although it would still be possible for me to trick-or-treat where ever you are, because I am 12, most of my friends are 13. I think trick-or-treating is great! My sister and brother who are 15 trick-or-treat and their friends do too. There are no laws in my small town, and If there were I would surely break them. I think it is a great opportunity to be loud and crazy on Halloween night!
~ Mad Max the Magnificent Marvelous Magician