Thaindian News

October 25, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Trick or treating, considered to be a part of the fun ritual during Halloween is in for some cuts too. A number of cities across the United States of America have now laid restrictions on the age for trick-or-treating. The cities have decided to allow only young children below the age of twelve to be up and about busy trick-or-treating on the day. The teenagers now face a ban from the city authorities due to reasons of security.

Belleville of the state of Illinois is a prime example of this. The Mayor of the city had tried to enforce the ban which disallowed high school kids from taking part in such celebrations way back in 2008.

Mayor Mark Eckert spoke to ‘The Washington Times’ says that his father had asked him to stop going around, trick-or-treating as he had grown older. The Mayor went on to add that the city needs to do something when the fathers of the teenagers fail to take notice. It becomes a time for the city government to intervene.

Eckert further states that the compliments that have poured in since the ban was put in place far outweigh the complaints. Discouraging the teenaged kids to go from house to house have made the elderly people as well as single mothers feel much more secure.

Several other towns including Bishopville, SC, Boonsboro, MD, Mississippi and Meridian have now placed restrictions on the teenagers. A number of cities in Virginia have had the law in place since the 1970s.

Instead of being rewarded with a handful of candies or other attractions of the Halloween, the teens may have to part with $100 in fines apart from spending a few months at the local jail. Officers, however, say that they rarely arrest a teen for trick-or-treating even if the law demands so.