A High Schooler’s Guide to Halloween Activities
Halloween is a favorite holiday among many kids and adults in America and other countries around the world. The holiday has been celebrated in the United States every October 31st since the mid eighteenth century. Halloween originated from the pagan holiday called Samhain in which supernatural events were thought to occur around the end of the harvesting season. After Irish immigrants came over to America, the holiday changed drastically in how it was celebrated. In present-day North America, Halloween is the one day of the year that children go door to door “trick-or-treating”, with the expectation of receiving candy and other goodies from their neighbors. However, a frequent conflict occurs within the realm of high schoolers. Though many Americans see high schoolers too old to go trick-or-treating with the younger elementary and middle schoolers, teens are often uninterested in participating in adult Halloween activities like passing out candy to the kids. This list offers five activities to ensure a good time for high schoolers on Halloween and the fall season that surrounds it.
- Go to a haunted house
Visiting a haunted house is great for high schoolers that love to be scared and enjoy the thrilling aspects of life. Attending a haunted house is popular among the high school culture because it offers a good time with family and friends. These houses are featured all over the country and easily found in the local Jacksonville and Saint Augustine area. For example, Jacksonville presents “13th Floor” located off Arlington Expressway. 13th floor contains eerie rooms and hallways full of terrifying costumes that guarantee screams from the people that go through. The cost of the activity varies based on many factors, but the 13th floor in specific costs 20-25$ per ticket, depending on the day of the week. Because of the horrifying nature of haunted houses, it’s recommended by most businesses that only children twelve and up should participate.
2. Trick-or-Treat
For high schoolers that like to stay in contact with their inner child, trick-or-treating is the activity for them. In fact, many kids at Nease insist on trick or treating for their Halloween plans. Another Nease student, Riley Chance, loves trick-or-treating every year. When asked what she was doing this Halloween, she commented, “…on actual Halloween day I’m going trick or treating.” After, Riley was asked to rank each activity on this list by the likeliness of her taking part, one being most likely and five being least likely. Without hesitation, she ranked trick or treating as her first choice.
Some people may be thinking, what’s not to like about trick or treating? Running or driving around a neighborhood collecting loads of delicious candy to indulge in with friends and family seems like the perfect night, right? Well, some would argue that trick or treating is a better fit for young children and middle schoolers. However, multiple Nease students’ reason against this opinion. After asking several Nease students what age they think is too old to go trick-or-treating, the answers were all similar. Riley said, “I just think it should stop when you get to college because you’re an adult.” Sienna claimed, “Maybe nineteen or twenty because that’s when you’re starting to become an adult.” These are just two of various equivalent responses to the question. To add, research documented in a USA Today article called, “How old is too old to trick-or-treat”, that also pondered what the age limit to the Halloween activity is. Camille Fine, the author, wrote, “When over 9,000 people were asked, ‘how old is too old to trick-or-treat?’ 47% of the respondents said ‘never’”. From the interviews conducted for this story and the statistic recorded by USA Today, it can be implied that the stereotype of an age limit on trick-or-treating is not believed by as many Americans as people may think.
Sienna Huggins, a Sophomore at Nease High School complemented the choice of attending a haunted house. “Based on all the fall and Halloween activities, being terrified at a haunted house with friends is the best experience.” And based on statistics stated in “Statistics for Your Haunted House”, published in Iowa State Daily in 2014, it’s obvious Sienna does not stand alone on this opinion. Author Michaela Ramm wrote, “The haunted attraction industry makes between 500 and $800 million a year in ticket sales.” The popularity of these houses proves just how great of experiences people have after going.
3. Volunteer at an event or fundraiser
High school is full of kids that are constantly on the lookout for community service work to include in job or college applications. Volunteering for a project centered around Halloween is a great opportunity for high schoolers in that situation. Examples of these opportunities are events like local track or treats, helping with the post-Halloween clean up, working or donating treats to a soup kitchen, and many more. Though this specific activity is less popular than the others on the list, it’s still important to include. Spending a holiday participating in an event like one of these is a fantastic way to benefit the city and poses as a great way for high schoolers to spend their time.
The local Jacksonville area offers volunteer opportunities for high schoolers. Nease hosts their own track-or-treat event each year that features the diverse clubs and organizations run at Nease. Any member of a Nease club or sport that is interested in volunteering at the track-or-treat located on the high school’s football field can reach out to the adults in charge of their club or team. By utilizing the Remind app and Schoology groups, high schoolers that attend Nease can easily find other volunteer opportunities that are good fits for them depending on where they live and what they are interested in taking part in. So, whether a high schooler needs community service hours or just loves to help, volunteering at a Halloween event or fundraiser is the holiday activity for them.
4. Stay home
Imagine getting home from school after a busy day and remembering it’s Halloween. If you’re tired, the thought of putting on costumes and spending hours walking around town doesn’t sound appealing when there’s an alternative. Many high schoolers take their Halloween as a chance to stay home and relax with friends, family, or even alone. Being a Halloween homebody opens loads of entertaining possibilities like baking Halloween themed cookies, carving pumpkins and other crafts, watching scary movies, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, telling ghost stories, and much more. This activity is loved by many Nease students like junior, Tia Gabrielson. Tia explained, “I love taking Halloween as time to catch up on the newest scary movies and bake the store-bought pumpkin sugar cookies with my best friends.” She also ranked staying home as her number one favorite activity when asked to rank the five activities on this list. Tia represents a large community at Nease and other high schoolers that enjoy the more relaxed Halloween night.
To focus on just one activity available to high schoolers that stay home on Halloween, watching horror movies is an excellent and popular choice. Viewing horror movies is hard for high schoolers to enjoy when parents are endlessly discussing how gory and violent the films are, and younger siblings are too little to watch with the family. However, because the kids are out trick-or-treating, and parents are accompanying them, Halloween serves as the perfect opportunity for high schoolers to catch up on the newest movies. Staying home on Halloween opens a whole new world of activities to take part in, making it an honorable mention on this list.
5. Go to a party
Parties may have a bad reputation with parents concerned with the intentions, but Halloween parties are another favorite activity when it comes to the interests of high schoolers. Parties are full of fun games, familiar faces, new people to meet, a variety of food and drinks, and for Halloween parties in specific, costumes. Parties are a great way to show off either individual or group costumes that a lot of high schoolers love to take part in. Nease Senior, Sophia Catechis, is one of many high schoolers that can attend to the greatness of Halloween parties. Sophia commented, “This Halloween I am planning to find a party and go to it with friends like all of the other Halloweens from my high school years.” Sophia also ranked attending a party as her number one when asked to rank the five activities.
Going to a Halloween party is a temping Halloween activity for high schoolers because of a multitude of reasons. Parties make socializing with peers easy and open a door to making new friends. Throughout the parties, the teens can engage in popular party ventures like card or board games, dancing, listening to music, and others. From these aspects of the activity and others not listed, it’s clear to see why so many high schoolers choose to spend their Halloween attending and hosting parties.
Based on the events mentioned in this guide and the limitless other opportunities not featured in this list, there’s no doubt that there isn’t a perfect Halloween activity for every high schooler to enjoy. Whether the high schoolers are spending time with friends and family, benefiting their community, or committing to a different activity, they will be rewarded with great holiday memories that will be nostalgic in their adulthood.
By: Keara Condon
