Halloween Tips
[dropcap4 variation=”orange” textColor=”#000000″]L[/dropcap4]ater this month children across America will be transforming themselves into their favorite Halloween characters and head out with a bag hoping to have it filled with treats. During this outdoor public event, it’s very important to keep wise safety tips in mind. In doing so, the evenings course of events are more likely to remain a fun filled evening for all of the little goblins (young and old).
Please review our 2015 tips to help ensure that your child will have a fun and safe trick-or-treating experience on Halloween.
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- Glow sticks and flashlights are always a good idea. Many of today’s Halloween costumes can be supplemented with some sort of lighted material that will make your child safer and seen easier while in or near streets or pathways.
- Always remind your children to travel in a group.
- Remind your child to never enter the home or car of a stranger, even when invited, and never knock on or approach a door alone.
- Remind your child not to eat any of the treats until they return home and only after all candies/treats are closely inspected by you. This helps to ensure no tampering has occured.
- Talk with your child and pre-plan the specific route they will be walking. If you are not with them and need to locate them, you will have a better idea of where they might be. Remind them never to stray from the route agreed upon.
- It’s OK to have your child check in with you periodically. If your child has a cell phone, make arrangements for them to call home at pre-planned intervals to report their location.
- We suggest all children under the age of 12 be accompanied by adults. For older children who are allowed to venture out without an adult, make sure they travel in groups, clearly understand safety precautions, have cell phones to check in with you, and stay in well-lit safe areas.
- It is a good rule of thumb that if a house does not have lights on, they are not participating nor inviting trick-or-treaters.
- If you are welcoming trick-or-treaters to your home, make sure you keep a well-lit and clear walk way for your guests to travel to and from your door.
- The most popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Please be particularly alert for kids during those hours.
- Reflective tape can be purchased at most hardware stores. This is an excellent inexpensive method of adding a very cool feature to costumes and to bags.
- Find out if your city/town has a curfew and make sure your children adhere to it in order to avoid any potential problems.
- It’s good to remember that most convenience stores and other shops can become quite nervous when people enter their stores wearing masks (Halloween evening is No Exception). Make sure your children know to remove their masks to avoid suspicion and/or regrettable incidents if they happen to venture in to one of these locations.
- Instruct your child not to cut through anyone’s property, an ally, or other dangerous pathway. Property owners who are not participating in this event may feel threatened and could consider this an intrusion.
- Make sure that your child use traffic signal crossings and always make eye contact with the driver of a vehicle when crossing, so that both the driver and child are aware that the child is attempting to cross.
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Trust but Verify – let’s use our common sense and awareness to keep our family and loved ones safe and secure.