4 Smart Halloween Safety Tips
Guest Post
NB See this recent Halloween SAFETY ALERT:
Halloween is just a few days away. On October 31st, millions of children (and some playful adults too) will knock on doors around their neighborhood dressed in costumes that run the gamut from ghoulish to hilarious. Despite its prominence in the calendar as a day of fright, Halloween is typically a fun and exciting event for the children who participate.
This post is aimed at the parents of those children going out on All Hallows Eve to make sure that they keep their kids safe from any potential harm or danger that could befall them. Kids should have fun on Halloween, but their safety should be the top priority for every parent sending their kids into the night festivities.
Here are four tips that I think would help parents ensure that their kids have a fun and safe Halloween this year.
- Be smart about your child’s costumes
Dressing up is every child’s favorite part of Halloween (other than the candy). Your child’s costume should be fun and reflect the festive mood inspired by the holiday, but it should also be an outfit that doesn’t compromise your child’s security while they’re walking around the neighborhood. Costumes comprised of all dark colors (a black robe, for example, or a cammo-colored outfit) might blend into the evening a little too much for passersby like drivers to notice the wearer. Costumes with too many bells and whistles on them might increase the likelihood of the wearer taking a nasty fall if they trip on one of their many accessories. At the very least I encourage parents to take a long look at their child’s costume before they go out for the night and make sure that that there aren’t any glaring problems with it.
- Kids out trick-or-treating should always be accompanied by an adult
This is a no brainer tip, especially for younger kids unfamiliar with the Halloween festivities. Kids simply shouldn’t go out into the night, knocking on strangers’ doors if they’re not accompanied by responsible adults. Though they’ll surely protest it, I think it’s even a good idea for younger teenagers to be accompanied by a parent too. Pro tip for parents accompanying their kids door to door: get into the Halloween spirit as much as your kids; they’d rather have a costumed parent accompanying them than one wearing everyday clothes.
- Trick-or-treat in familiar neighborhoods
I also encourage parents to only allow their children to go trick-or-treating in areas where they’re familiar with their surroundings. Children might have the urge to go out and explore distant neighborhoods that have been storied to have the best candy in town, or they might just claim boredom at going to the same neighborhood for trick-or-treating that they’ve always gone to. But unless children are accompanied by several adults it’s just better that they stick with the familiar neighborhood. There are simply too many risk factors involved with taking the festivities to another neighborhood: a child might get lost among the fray or perhaps the residents might not take kindly to trick-or-treaters.
- Set a sensible curfew
My final tip is for parents to know ahead of time when to call it quits for the night. Often kids will lose track of time trick-or-treating and they’ll want to continue going door to door even if it seems like most people are just going to sleep. The Halloween candy doesn’t help, since many kids are far too wired on sugar by the end of the night to know their limits. Parents turning their kids back home at a responsible hour will ensure their kids safety while at the same time helping them avoid more sugary treats than are necessary.
Have any Halloween safety tips of your own? I’d love to hear them!
Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below