Boo! 5 Safety Tips to Protect Your Fearless Kids This Halloween

PEKIN, Ill. –– On Halloween, the hysteria cultivated in kids filling bags with free candy until they weigh 20 pounds is enough to override the many rules of trick-or-treating safety you've imbued in them from a young age. But as irritating as it can be when they don't listen to you, it's still your job to keep your kids safe on this ghoulish night, so we've provided you with five tips to protect your fearless kids on Halloween.

1. No Tricks, Just Treats

Unfortunately, we live in a world where you have to keep a constant eye out for bizarre and unpleasant things that may negatively affect your kids. While we aren’t suggesting the majority of people are dangerous individuals roaming the streets to terrorize innocent kids, we believe it's important to keep your kids informed of the reality that some people aren’t very nice and could have crummy intentions, especially on a holiday built around creepiness. You can give some neighbors you're familiar with the benefit of the doubt, but the truth is you don’t know the majority of the people who are passing out candy to your kids. Make sure your kids know to stay polite when they ring doorbells for candy, but remind them not to fall under strangers' incantatory spells.

2. Not Just Any Haunted House

Never should your kids enter a house without your authorization or supervision. If you’re kids are old enough to trick-or-treat alone, make sure they know to stay on porches and out of houses when they collect candy. Again, your kids don’t know the people passing out candy; therefore, they should feel uncomfortable if an adult asks them to come inside. Of course, there are exceptions to this Halloween safety tip. For instance, some Halloween fanatics turn their homes or garages into haunted spaces for kids to walk through before receiving candy. If your kids see other kids and adults participating in this, there’s nothing to worry about. But if no one else is around, make sure your kids are intuitive enough to move on rather than oblige an offer to step inside a seemingly friendly stranger’s home.

3. Resist the Dark Side, Stay in the Light

Let’s be honest, Halloween can be a pretty dark occasion, figuratively and literally. It’s up to you how you choose to raise your kids regarding the more grotesque aspects of costumes and decorations, but when it comes to the real darkness of the holiday––nighttime––we think all parents should make sure their kids follow a set of rules for navigating the dusk hours. Make sure your kids are safe this Halloween when the sun goes down and the moon comes out.; no, not because of werewolves, but because nighttime naturally results in riskier situations. When it’s dark, it’s harder for drivers to see kids going door-to-door or crossing the street, and it also creates a higher risk for shady characters lurking in spooky, unnoticeable places. Keep your kids safe and remind them to stay on well-lit streets and to avoid dark areas.

4. Don’t Be a Zombie, Look Both Ways

When kids get excited about Halloween, the only thing on their mind is sugar and how much they’ll consume before slipping into a coma. That’s why it’s important to remind your kids they aren’t zombies and they should look both ways before crossing the street. Be annoying when communicating this rule to your kids, because we guarantee they won’t be repeating the left-right-left mantra you taught them years ago as they run from one block to another in pursuit of candy without you there to remind them.

5. You’re Not a Real Vampire, so Don’t Expect to Be Out Late

The parameters you emplace for your kids on Halloween are of your own discretion, but we still suggest setting a curfew for them to ensure they get home safely and on time. Find out when other parents expect their kids to come home. This will help you gauge an appropriate curfew time that won’t ruin your kids’ trick-or-treating fun, but also prevents them from being out too late when fewer adults will be present to maintain a safe environment. Be reasonable with your expectations, but don’t be afraid to set a stern check-in time, because ultimately your kids’ safety is primary.

These five tips to protect your fearless kids this Halloween are what we consider to be the major preventative measures you can take to keep your family having fun without risking any danger. Halloween is meant to be an exciting and festive night, so let’s work to keep spirits high by keeping our own and others’ kids with these tips.

At our used car dealer near Peoria Heights, IL, we also think it’s important to drive safe throughout the entire fall season. Follow our tips and visit our service center for all of your autumn maintenance. Velde Ford, located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554, is committed to providing our customers with an unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience.

Visit our website: VeldeFordPekin.com

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