Trick-or-Treat
How’s this for a frightening law? Belleville is limiting trick-or-treating to kids in eighth grade and younger.
Happily for the Belleville teenagers, this doesn’t sound enforceable. Many eighth graders look as big and scary as college freshman. It’s hard to tell the difference between a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old when they’re in costume. Besides, the new ordinance makes an exception for teens who accompany younger siblings, so all a ninth grader has to do is team up with some eighth-grade friends and pretend to be a chaperone.
Still, the last thing any city needs is a bunch of redundant, unenforceable laws. Perhaps they’ll rethink the concept when they figure out that eighth graders don’t carry photo IDs.
And as stupid as the law is on its face (to use a fancy legal term), you can’t overlook the fact that its likely intent is to keep East St. Louis teenagers from coming into Belleville to trick-or-treat. The (probable) racial aspect of it makes it even worse.
Comment by David Stokes — October 24, 2008 @ 10:07 a.m.
Let’s not forget that the people answering the doors have little incentive to report this crime, as there is no victim (unless you count having to give out a bit more candy). Are they planning on increasing officer foot traffic and engaging in random stops of trick-or-treaters? Everything about this is bad.
Comment by Josh Smith — October 24, 2008 @ 10:31 a.m.