With Halloween approaching, many people may begin to wonder how they can keep their children safe and out of harm’s way during this annual night of shenanigans and fun. Even if your children are generally trustworthy throughout the rest of the year, this one night can entice even the best behaved children to engage impulsively in pranks and mischief. Home and business owners, as well as the local police, have little tolerance for little ruffians who like to wreak havoc on Halloween. There are precautions you can take, depending on your child’s age, to help ensure their safety. You can keep your teenagers out of mischief by taking these suggestions into consideration.
1. Supervise Your Teens:
Even teenagers sometimes need your presence and supervision to guarantee they are on their best behavior and stay out of trouble. This is not an easy task. You have to find the right balance to grant your teen independence while maintaining control.
2. Establish a Curfew:
The police will be on guard that night to make sure teens and young children are not out too late. Set a curfew and enforce it strictly that night for your kids’ safety. According to attorney, Kevin W. DeVore, “Anyone under the age of 18 who has committed a crime is deemed a juvenile delinquent.” This is not a title that is easy to get rid of. So, the best practice is to deter misdemeanors from occurring in the first place.
3. Give Your Children a Cell Phone:
Make sure your kids have a cell phone with them and establish check-in phone calls to make sure they are staying out of trouble. It may be a good idea to have some type of GPS activate on the phone or a phone locator app just in case.
4. Take Your Teen to Sponsored Halloween events:
Many stores and churches have indoor Halloween opportunities. These parties are held indoors or in enclosed outdoor spaces that are closely monitored by adults. Your kids can have fun, get candy, and avoid getting in trouble.
5. Encourage Indoor Parties:
If your children are not out in the neighborhood, they cannot get into trouble with the neighbors and law enforcement. Encourage your kids to go to indoor parties instead of going out into the neighborhood.
When you have younger children, you can still keep them safe. Taking care of younger children on Halloween requires paying close attention to them that night. These precautions can make sure you and your kids have a lot of fun on Halloween.
1. Take Several Adults with You:
Taking even two or three children “trick or treating” can be a challenge if you alone are the supervising adult. You can keep a close eye on your kids by recruiting other adults in your family or your friends to go along with you to help supervise your children.
2. Resist Entering People’s Homes:
Even if people invite you into their homes that night, you should resist going inside to keep your kids out of trouble. Your kids may break something in the home or hurt a person’s pet, among other things.
3. Stay in Your Own Neighborhood:
If you take your young children to houses of familiar neighbors, you lower the risk that they could get into trouble. These individuals already know your children, and your children will be more likely to behave.
4. Watch Out For Traffic:
If your children plan on “trick or treating“ that night and plan your route on less traveled roads and be sure to stay on the sidewalk when possible. You do not want to risk your child being hit by a car or causing an accident.
5. Keep “trick or treating” short:
Rather than make it a marathon evening, you should keep the “trick or treating” as short as possible. A half hour or hour can be sufficient to keep your kids out of trouble that night.
These ideas can help your children and you enjoy in the festivities of Halloween. They can also keep your kids out of trouble and safe on this night of pranks, shenanigans, and fun. If you feel that you can trust your child, but it is the other children you can’t trust, it may be best to consider hosting a haunted house or party of your own. This way there is no question of your child’s whereabouts.
Article contributor, Domonique Powell, feels that mischief can sometimes get out of hand. Even with safety precautions in place unexpected trouble can arise. If you child does partake in a “prank gone bad” or is framed for one, you may want to see an attorney such as Kevin W. Devore who has experience dealing with juvenile cases.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/u2sockmonkey/1795675645/