A Halloween Child Safety Checklist

We are in the middle of one of the most celebrated and spooky seasons of the entire year, Halloween.  We associate the holiday with ghosts, ghouls, goblins and candy…LOTS of candy and a fair amount of walking around participating in the Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating”, usually scoring your kids chocolate supply for at least through the Spring.  This season, more than any other, is safe…Isn’t it? 

Although this is a joyous holiday, especially for children, there are some things we should all do regarding the children that could even save their lives as we head through the holiday weekend and into Wednesday, Halloween night:

Drive carefully – During this time of year and especially during the Halloween time frame, we should always drive with as much caution as possible.  When driving through residential areas become more attentive and drive BELOW the speed limit.  Let’s face it; the amount of children on the street at any given time during this stretch is largely increased so it makes sense to drive carefully and under the speed limit, just because. 

Wear Reflectors – Reflectors can be purchased from Home Depot or Loews for very little money.  If you are a kid of any age, make sure that you can be seen by drivers.  In 2010, almost 75 percent of all of the fatal pedestrian crashes occurred during low-light conditions. More than half of the pedestrians killed were wearing dark clothing and were not visible.  During Halloween, this risk increases.  We say, safety before candy, have a flashlight and please put on some reflectors, make it part of a last minute costume idea if it will help!

Luring – As sad as it is, we have all heard about instances of child luring happening in many communities and towns around us.  We have had to hear about at least a dozen or so of these crimes in just the past few months alone and Halloween adds another element to the danger of this occurring.  We suggest a few simple guidelines to follow during this upcoming Halloween and perhaps whenever your children are out and about: 

-Supervise your children during their trick or treat sessions, especially the young ones and we mean pay extra close attention, it is very easy to miss your five year old straying or lagging behind the group. 

-Never trick or treat alone, always make sure that you are with a group and don’t stray from the group.  There is always safety in numbers and most of these types of individuals are said to prefer children who are alone.

-The last tip is something that we all know to be true and value as a life lesson, Talking to and educating your child about your “stranger” policy.  With Halloween coming up and with some of things that have been happening around us, perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to have that discussion and give your kids this training, if you haven’t done so already.  Depending on the age of your children, you can tailor your plan to fit their understanding, this of course for the young ones.  However, even if yours are older, it doesn’t hurt to have another conversation, at the risk of becoming that “square” parent even, just to make sure!

Halloween Candy – Everyone knows that you shouldn’t eat your collected candy until you get it home, right?  We know it’s tempting though, so if you do want to eat some, go ahead and have your Mom or Dad inspect it thoroughly first and if it meets their approval, then go for it! 

Our goal is to bring our collective awareness up during the upcoming holiday.  We hope you all get all of the candy that you can collect, perhaps even garner your future supply but most importantly, we wish the kids to be safe and happy!

For more informational on all things children, please visit our Child Care blog!