It’s seen almost every Halloween night: kids going trick-or-treating and having fun with their friends. As kids grow up, when do they leave all that behind? As both high school and college students, do MCHS students still have the time and interest in Halloween as they did five years ago?

People all over the country celebrate Halloween and have a different view on the holiday. Last year the country spent roughly about $9.1 billion on Halloween and only $3.4 billion were spent only on costumes.

Senior Ramiro Rico spent his Halloween night very differently; he spent the night working on college applications and scholarships and didn’t fall asleep until 3  a.m. Although Rico has never cared for Halloween or been trick or treating, he also thinks it’s cool to have a holiday where you can go out with friends and have fun. As a child he never really noticed Halloween, and as he gets older, the less he will pay attention to the holiday. “I would just stay in, chill, eat,” he says, rather than going trick-or-treating. Rico would rather celebrate Christmas because “everyone is in a festive mood and nice to each other, it’s just a vibe.” A vibe Halloween doesn’t give off, resulting in his lack of enthusiasm for the holiday.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Tais Avila-Guzman

Students took a survey on what they will do for Halloween.

Junior Kassandra Lara thinks that regardless of their age, they should still go out and do something fun for Halloween. Although she stayed home and ordered pizza with her sister on Halloween, she wanted to go to an office party at her internship. She looked forward to the possible Halloween movie marathon, where she would watch “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” Had she been taking care of her nephews that night, she would have rather taken them out trick-or-treating. For Lara, Halloween has become more of a holiday to see them have fun, as opposed to one where she herself has fun. “You know I still like candy, but you know I can go out and buy candy myself,” she says. Although she likes Halloween, she also thinks that many companies have used this holiday to make money, and she sees the dangers of going trick-or-treating. With the recent increase of shootings in the country, she wonders whether trick-or-treating is really safe, even if are going with your parents. “Now that you are more aware about the crazy things that go on during Halloween and stuff, you don’t really think about going out and stuff.”