NJ towns’ trick-or-treat hours

Allow me my old man get-off-my-lawn moment here. When we were kids, we handled much more freedom and independence than kids are allowed today. It's making children less mature by the time they're graduating high school, and it's not their fault.

We were allowed to go trick-or-treating with our friends with no adult supervision by 7 years old. It's just how things were. There were also fewer rules for things. We kind of just knew when to start trick-or-treating, and we knew when it was getting too late. Lights going off in houses are a good context clue.

Today, there seems to be a rule for everything. Including what hours to trick-or-treat in any given township.

Here are a few examples.

Hackettstown is telling families trick-or-treating is from 4 pm to 8 pm this year. I'm sorry, but how are you, the town that makes M&Ms and then going to cut Halloween off at 8 pm?

Evesham is even more strict. Theirs is from 4 to 7:30 p.m. I always wonder...and what happens if you don't? What happens if you keep trick-or-treating up to 8:10 p.m.? Are they going to arrest the kid?

Hammonton is 5:30 to 8 p.m. Why? What's different at 5:37 compared to 5:17?

Maybe I'm just being contrary, but I think I'm not the only one who feels trick-or-treating is a private compact between a kid and a neighbor and shouldn't be the business of the local government. No, it's not a hill on which to die. It's just always seemed weird to me.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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