Child safety is a parent’s #1 concern, so it’s only natural that parents are especially apprehensive and protective of their children on October 31st, when their kids come in contact with numerous, total strangers.
However, some joke that the biggest danger is kids overstuffing themselves with Halloween candy, getting sick and getting fat. There are many stories surrounding Halloween that have been circulating for decades, but how many of them are actually true?
Another Halloween safety fear is that razor blades, pins or needles may appear in children’s Halloween candy. However, this fear is largely unsubstantiated. Professor Joel Best reports that he’s tracked at least 80 cases of sharp objects inserted into food since 1959 and all of them were hoaxes. Only ten cases resulted in injury that required a trip to the hospital or stitches, he added.
Follow ups indicated that nearly all the cases were actually just pranks from the children or the parents. Even so, harsh prison terms were imposed in Canada, New Jersey and New York following razor blade laced apples in the 1960s, and many airports went so far as to suggest parents bring their kids’ candy to their x-ray machines for safety’s sake.
To keep kids safe this Halloween, parents should accompany all children under the age of 12 (at ideally a 4:1 ratio). Older children should have an appropriate curfew and should be required to take cell phones and flashlights. Be sure kids costumes fit well and do not have dangling strings that could cause kids to trip and fall. If pumpkin carving is part of the family ritual, then the kids should decorate the pumpkins with black magic markers and leave the actual carving to adults.
Flashlights or bulbs should then be used to light up the pumpkin, rather than a flammable candle. By taking appropriate safety measures, parents and kids can have a truly safe and spooky night.
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