Tips for Staying Safe on Halloween

If you want your kids to enjoy Halloween but are afraid of what could happen to them on this haunted night, here are 3 tips for keeping them safe:

1.  Stay in groups- One of the easiest ways to stay safe when you are going out on Halloween is to only go out with a large group of kids. There is no need to risk being kidnapped or stranded alone if you are hurt by going out by yourself. Instead make sure that you have a large group of friends that you can go out with. Make sure that everyone in the group knows who is supposed to be there and is responsible for keeping track of another person. This will help you all to work together to stay safe and enjoy your evening.

2.  Take a cell phone with you- If you’re going to be heading out on your own for the first time you should ask your parents for a cell phone that you can take with you so that you can call in case of an emergency. Parents, if your kids are old enough to go trick-or-treating on their own, then they are old enough to take a cell phone with them. In order to make sure that they are safe you should create timely checkpoints so that they can call in and let you know that everything is okay. For example, you may want to establish a rule with your kids that they will call you every hour. If they don’t call you, then they should know that you are going to call them, and if they don’t answer you will be heading out to find them and that once you do find them their night will be over.

3.  Never leave the little ones- Parents if you have kids who are old enough to go out on Halloween, but you don’t feel like they are old enough to go on their own then you need to go with them. Letting your kid go out on their own on Halloween takes a lot of trust and isn’t something that you should ever do if you don’t feel comfortable with it. When you do go out with them you can give them some space by staying on the curb and letting them walk to the door. Or if they are really little you can go to the door behind them so that they feel safe. It is really easy to get lost, scared, or even kidnapped on a night with so many children  running around on the streets. It is always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to trick-or-treating.

When it comes to safety on Halloween, or any other holiday, it really is better to error on the side of caution.