Trick or Treating

Halloween this year is going to be a little different. Since Nix hit middle school, we are cutting her off. She still has a costume, but this year she'll be handing the candy out with me while the boys walk the neighborhood. I'm really looking forward to it, and I think she is too. It will be fun and maybe a little lesson in giving instead of receiving.
I just read an article about a town that has a law saying you can not trick-or-treat over the age of 12. The mayor says that people were tired of 6 foot tall "kids" coming to their door. He went on to say that in "his day" fathers told their kids when they were too old and didn't let them go out, but that is not happening any more. It was now up to local government to handle the problem.
The whole article made me sad. Did this town really have such a problem with this that they had to legislate common sense? Are parents no longer taking responsibility for their own children? There has now become an expectation for the government to control your children for you. The police of that town are now tasked with not only running down people trying to do real harm on that night, but also with carding kids in costumes.
I should probably note that I do agree that being a teen does make you too old to trick-or-treat. If you are old enough to go without your parents shadowing you, then you are too old to go out. At this point it is no longer trick-or-treating it is begging. Get a job and buy your own candy.
I noticed in the comments of the article there were a few suggestions on how to deal with over aged treaters. My favorite suggestion was to toss ketchup packages from a fast food restaurant into their bags instead of candy. This way they don't know who tricked them, just that they got tricked. It also cuts down on retaliation, which is the real reason we still give candy to the big ones. It is either that or sit up all night with your night vision goggles and a BB gun (not that I know anyone who would do that).