With stranger danger, contaminated candy, and children and cars sharing the road, Halloween can be a truly terrifying holiday for parents.
If you talk to your kids before going out, however, you may be able to put your mind at ease and make sure safety is at the top of the list for everyone in your family.
Here are some things to discuss:
- Supervision: If your kids are under 12 years old, make it clear that they will not be trick-or-treating alone, and accompany them on all of their Halloween adventures.
- Stranger danger: Make sure your children understand that they should NEVER enter an unfamiliar home or vehicle. Steer them away from poorly lit houses and encourage them to travel in groups. To avoid areas with sex offenders and violent criminals, search your neighborhood on the Oklahoma Sex & Violent Offender Registry.
- Costume safety: Don’t let your little ones wear masks, ill-fitting outfits, or any other costumes that might obstruct their movement or vision. To increase their visibility, give your children glow sticks and flashlights, and enhance their costumes and candy bags with reflective tape.
- Pedestrian safety: Talk to your kids about the dangers of being hit by a car. Point out crosswalks, well-lit intersections, and other street corners where it is appropriate to cross. Remind them to always look both ways before crossing the street. To encourage them to stay on one side of the street, make a “game plan” of houses to visit. If they know they’re going to the cool house on the other side of the road in 5 minutes, they are less likely to dart across the street to get there. Choose neighborhoods with sidewalks whenever possible.
- Distractions: If your children are old enough to have smart phones or other devices, encourage them to leave all but one emergency cellphone at home to avoid any unnecessary distractions. If you’re going with them, set a good example by keeping your phone in your pocket.
- Candy Inspections: Don’t let your kids eat candy until you’ve had a chance to inspect it. Set ground rules about when treats can be eaten, so your children won’t be tempted to eat contaminated candy on the road.
- Drugs and Alcohol: If you have teenagers, reinforce that drugs and alcohol are strictly off-limits. When you are responsible for chaperoning or chauffeuring your children, you should also avoid alcoholic beverages.
According to Safe Kids Worldwide®, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car on Halloween. With this scary statistic and other threats, communication is the key to ensuring everyone’s safety.
If someone else’s behavior causes an injury on Halloween, our attorneys at Richardson Richardson Boudreaux, PLLC are here to help.
Stay safe and contact us online or at 918-492-7674 if anything goes wrong.
For Halloween driving tips, make sure to tune in for our fun, Drive Slow, Stay Spooky blog, which will be released this week on October 23rd!