• Safety Tips:
• Community Safety: Halloween Reminders for Parents
• School Safety: Alternatives to the Traditional Trick-or-Treat Ritual
• Statistics: Halloween Facts & Figures
• One Opinion: Open to Discussion
  

As parents and homeowners, however, our responsibility doesn't stop there; we also need to make sure our homes are safe for the scores of Trick-or-Treaters that will make their way to our doorsteps that evening. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Make sure the sidewalk, walkway or path to your home is well lit and clear of debris (sticks, leaves, etc.) and items such as bicycles, skateboards and toys. Little ones caught up in the excitement of Halloween aren't likely to look for obstacles in their way.
• Don't let young children carve jack-o-lanterns; knives can easily slip and cause significant injury to the child.
• Light jack-o-lanterns with a flashlight rather than candles. While the flicker of a candle inside a jack-o-lantern is definitely more festive, it only takes a second for a costume to ignite in flames.
• Keep any jack-o-lanterns that you light indoors away from draperies, decorations and the reach of children and pets.
• If you have a pet - particularly a dog - consider keeping it in another room and away from the front door. Some dogs become easily agitated by the constant ringing of the doorbell and may snap at a child.
• If you are out driving, be extra cautious and pay particular attention in areas where there may not be many street lights and where there are many parked cars along the road way. You never know where a child might be coming from!

School Safety:

For most kids, making the Trick-or-Treat rounds on Halloween Night is as automatic as blowing out candles on a birthday cake: it's something that is done once a year without question.

As parents, we worry about a number of things as our children set out on their quest for treats. Will they be safe? Will they receive a piece of tampered with or tainted candy? Will they, in all their excitement, forget all the safety rules they've been taught?

In light of these and other concerns, many parents (and communities) seek out alternative activities that combine the fun of Trick-or-Treating with a safe atmosphere. For example, some schools or organizations host a Halloween Trunk Night in which young ghosts and goblins make their Trick-or-Treat rounds amongst cars that are assembled in a designated area - typically a parking lot. Adults (usually parents of the Trick-or-Treating youths) decorate their cars in a Halloween theme and pass out treats as the kids move from car to car. Because the children are confined to a specific area (i.e., parking lot) and not running from house to house (or across busy streets), there is less of a chance for injury (or worse) and since the treats are coming from familiar people, there is a reduced likelihood for tampering.

Shopping malls are also becoming popular Trick-or-Treating destinations with many malls having specific time periods during which children can visit stores for treats. Most malls require children to be accompanied by a parent (or another adult). And, because shopping malls offer a well-lit, contained (not to mention warm!) environment for children to Trick-or-Treat, there is less of an opportunity for a mishap to occur.

Some families opt for hosting a party for their children's friends at home, which provides yet another way to have Halloween fun in a safe, controlled environment. Simple games such as a beanbag toss, bobbing for apples and 'pin the bones on the skeleton' can be set-up for kids to play, you can carve pumpkins, or, if the kids are a little older, you can watch scary movies.

Statistics :

A 1999 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration included the following statistics:

• Fatal collisions between motor vehicles and young pedestrians who are under the age of 15 most frequently happen between 4 and 8 p.m., which is prime trick-or-treating time.
• Eighty-four percent of deaths of young pedestrians occurred at non-intersection locations, which indicates children are more likely to dart into the street from the middle of the block.
• Of the 4,906 pedestrian fatalities as a result of motor vehicle collisions in 1999, 517 were young pedestrians. Sixty-two percent of those were young boys.

On a lighter note, here are some fun tidbits from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• There are 41.1 million kids in the U.S. ages 5-14 - the typical ages for Trick-or-Treating.
• 831.2 million pounds of pumpkins were grown in the United States during 2000. Illinois led the way, with a harvest of 364 million pounds.
• Halloween Places: Pumpkin Center, N.C. (population 2,228), Transylvania County, N.C. (pop. 29,334), Pumpkin Bend Township, Ark. (pop. 307).

One Opinion, Open to Discussion:

The day will arrive for most of us when our children ask that we not accompany them on their trick-or-treat rounds. Whether you choose to let them set out on their own is a decision only you can make and will probably largely depend on a number of factors including your child's age and your overall comfort level with your neighborhood (or the neighborhood where the trick-or-treating will occur).

If you do decide to let them set out on their own on Halloween Night, you will likely take a few minutes to issue the standard reminders: be careful when crossing the street, only cross at crosswalks, don't run, only approach homes that have the appearance of somebody being home, etc.

Many of us won't, however, take time to talk to our kids about vandalism. I'm not sure why that is; after all, we were once kids too and how many of us can truthfully admit that we haven't soaped a car window or two in our younger days? In fact, as a young adult, my parents, brother and I decorated a neighbor's yard with no less than 2 dozen rolls of toilet paper - all in fun, I assure you!

And, while there's nothing wrong with a little harmless fun - after all, soap can be washed away, and toilet paper thrown out - some kids seem to have crossed the line between having a little harmless fun and downright destruction.

Two Halloweens ago, my husband happened to walk toward the front of our house and saw flames coming from a tree in our front yard. He didn't go outside to investigate; rather, he immediately called 911. In hindsight, he realized he probably should have gone outside first, but we were less than two months removed from the horrors of September 11 and were understandably still a little on edge.

Within minutes, two fire trucks, a few police cars and an ambulance showed up. By then, the fire was out - the flames had been confined to a length of toilet paper some kids had thrown into the tree and then lit.

One of the police officers took a walk down the street to see if he could spot the culprits. While he wasn't able to find them, what he did find were charred remains of toilet paper on other lawns all along the street.

I'm sure the kids responsible for this did not consider the possibility that their seemingly harmless prank could have caused a major fire, especially if the tree in our front yard actually ignited. If they had, I hope they would have made a different decision about lighting that match in the first place.

Please keep this in mind when you send your kids off Trick-or-Treating this year. Be sure to tell them to be careful crossing the street, remind them to stay away from houses where it appears as though there's no one home and most importantly, remind them to consider the consequences of their actions before they attempt any 'tricks'.

Happy Halloween!

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