The ‘grubby’ act that ‘ruined’ Aussie’s Halloween

Ring camera footage outside a Melbourne home has revealed a selfish act that ruined a family’s Halloween. And they’re not alone.

Halloween has come and gone, but a conversation has since emerged about Aussie children (and teens) being greedier than ever and clearing out lollies left outside people’s homes.

Many have pointed the finger at older children, who are typically unsupervised while trick-or-treating, and are said to take more than their fair share of treats and leave little to none for the younger kids.

In a video posted to Instagram by radio host and mum-of-two Jacqui Felgate, Halloween’s “grub act” was put on full display.

The footage was captured from a ring camera and showed a teenage boy casually walking up someone’s driveway with an empty Coles bag.

He then stashes all of the lollies from an unattended bowl on the doorstep into the bag and races off across the lawn and down the road.

Ms Felgate’s caption read: “Can these older kids please stop stealing all the lollies?

“I’ve been sent so many videos like this. Give us a spell.”

A teen has been caught stealing more than his fair share of Halloween lollies, filling up an empty Coles bag with treats. Picture: Instagram/@jacquifelgate

It’s a trend that’s on the rise in Australia, with many parents now calling for a “ban” on teens trick-or-treating. Picture: Instagram/@jacquifelgate

In the comments, people said that the same thing had happened to them last night.

“I caught some older kids emptying my cauldron at 4:30pm, I’d literally just put them out because I was about to head off trick-or-treating with my small kids. The main perpetrator quickly ran off with his stash,” said one mum.

“Just had a 10-year-old empty the entire bowl of lollies for himself and get back into his parents’ $100k car,” revealed another.

“This ruined it for all the kiddos up in our area, too,” replied a third. “These older hoons thinking this is okay.”

The video was taken in the Melbourne suburb of Bulleen, but complaints about this trend have been coming in from all across Australia.

People are leaving bowls of lollies outside their homes, which teens are taking advantage of. Picture: iStock

In the Sydney Reddit thread, a user shared their disappointment after a similar incident.

“My nephews, two and five, were very excited about getting dressed up and finding lollies in the neighbourhood,” the poster wrote.

“Their parents had to work till 5:30pm, so they bought seven huge bags of lollies to keep out the front (enough to easily outlast the night) with a sign saying ‘take one’ and an honesty system. When they got home, it was sad to see people had taken literally everything, but whatever, bad luck.”

Their parents then took their kids for a walk and found it was the same at every house, so the kids “didn’t get a single thing.”

“I just really felt for the kids when they were so excited finally to dress up and get some lollies and someone else in the neighbourhood took them all,” he explained.

Others weighed in with their thoughts, echoing those on Ms Felgate’s video, and calling for a ‘ban’ on teenagers participating in Halloween.

“Once you’ve finished primary school, you don’t need to go trick or treating anymore,” someone voiced.

Another added, “Yep, if you are in high school, you should be banned from trick-or-treating.”

“The greediness of the bigger kids can be annoying,” began a third, “but what I find worse is parents scouring Facebook groups for the best suburbs/streets and then heading there to clean out people who aren’t even their neighbours instead of getting to know their own community.”

One Redditor admitted this sort of behaviour “breaks my heart,” while another called it “disgusting.”

Yet not everyone felt that teens were entirely to blame.

“It sucks, but just leaving stuff out in the open unattended is asking for trouble. Better to leave a sign notifying all trick-or-treaters what time the household will be home so they can come back at that time to collect lollies,” suggested one.

“You are dealing with children,” reminded another, “and it sucks but maybe hand out the lollies rather than leaving a giant unmonitored bucket. The advantage will always be taken if there are no consequences.

“I’m not sure how much I’d be relying on the honesty system because teens and tweens just lack that impulse control.”

A warning was issued earlier this week to hopeful trick or treaters via a note held up by a peg on a screen door. Picture: X.

This comes after a debate earlier in the week about whether Australians should even celebrate Halloween, given it’s an American tradition.

One particularly disgruntled Aussie didn’t hesitate to make their feelings known ahead of Thursday night, leaving out a fiery note for potential trick-or-treaters.

The note read, “This is Australia, not America. F*** off with your Halloween s***.”

After the note was shared on social media, one comment summed up what many Americans were thinking: “Sounds more like Aussies are miserable and don’t like kids. Either way, thank God I don’t live there.”

Another person declared: “Time to send eggs and toilet paper to Australia from America with love.”

“All the tricks and no treats down under,” another user joked.

Originally published as The ‘grubby’ act that ‘ruined’ Aussie’s Halloween