Credit to Franklin Zitter for finding this!
Mayor Mark Eckhert of Belleville, Ill., says he's heard a ton of complaints from frightened single mothers and senior citizens who are less than happy about the “6-foot-tall kids” that ring their doorbells on Halloween. His solution: To create an ordinance banning high-school teenagers—that is, anyone over the age of 12—from trick-or-treating.This is infuriating, and akin to banning dancing in Footloose. This Ebenezer Scrooge with political power is telling residents that the moment they hit their teens they are no longer allowed to celebrate the holiday in its most pure form. Sure, we adults pretty much go nuts and drink ourselves silly on Halloween, but what is the 13-20 year old to do? That's right...they will be forced to hit the bottle early, something that will no doubt make their parties devolve into orgies of violence and, well, orgies."When I was a kid my father said to me, 'You're too damn big to be going trick or-treating. You're done,’" Eckhert told ABC News. "When that doesn't happen, then that's reason for the city governments to intervene."
Intervening, in this case, means putting an age limit on trick-or-treaters, and threatening the over-12 set with a $100 fine for those who ignore the law—though, according to ABC, that fine has rarely, if ever, been actually meted out. And while some residents of Belleville have complained about the ordinance, it seems that many more are relieved. Trick-or-treat age limits have also been popular in townships in South Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland, and Virginia.
