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Little monsters set to trick or treat

Posted on October 31, 2008, 9:09am and updated on November 3, 2008 at 12:24 pm

Halloween

Oliver and Riley Thomson practice their trick-or-treating skills to make sure they’re ready for Halloween tonight.

Halloween may sound like great fun for children, but many Australian parents are concerned about the safety implications of trick-or-treating.

Parenting magazine Wondertime recently surveyed more than 1000 mums across the country and the results revealed that 80pc of Australian mums worry about their kids going trick-or-treating.

Only one in five mums had no problems with the tradition, saying it was good family fun and a great way to meet the neighbours.

As Halloween is predominantly an American holiday it was not surprising that the results showed only two thirds of Australian families celebrate Halloween.

For those families who are planning on dressing up in their scariest costumes to go trick-or-treating, the South Australia Police State Crime Prevention Branch have provided some Handy Halloween Safety Tips.

It’s important for all young people to follow these eight simple safety tips so everyone can have a safe and enjoyable Halloween.

Ensure your child is wearing a costume or mask that allows them to see and breathe easily and make sure they are able to take it off on their own.

A parent or older brother or sister needs to accompany all children. Children should never go “trick or treating” by themselves.

Children should only go to houses that their parents are familiar with and only approach the house if the front outside light is switched on.

After knocking on the door and saying “trick or treat”, children should stay at the front door and never enter inside the person’s house.

Children should not approach any vehicle unless the child and parent know the occupant.

Before children set out to go “trick or treating” parents should sit down and talk with them about these tips and instruct their child to make a scene or scream if someone tries to grab them of force them into a car or house.

At the end of the evening, parents should inspect all of their children’s “treats” and dispose of any lollies that are not wrapped or appear to be tampered with.

An alternative to “trick or treating” is holding a Halloween party at home, that way all children are supervised in a safe environment and can still enjoy celebrating Halloween.

For additional information regarding Halloween safety tips go to www.halloween-safety.com.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Little monsters set to trick or treat”

  1. H on October 31st, 2008 10:27 am 1

    Course parents should be worried.. I am…

    America is taking over!

    When will it stop!?!

    But seriously, there are so many risks and problems associated with activity like this.. And all it takes is one bad apple to spoil it for everyone..

  2. Ebony Jackson on October 31st, 2008 3:50 pm 2

    This activity? the risks are too scary to list…

  3. Pyrrho on October 31st, 2008 5:30 pm 3

    Can’t say that this particular American tradition does much for me. Its bad enough having a “Candy Bar” at the Oatmill cinemas. Before you know it, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving.

  4. Mykln on November 1st, 2008 11:22 pm 4

    If there weren’t so many people out there with bad intentions, it would’nt be a problem. This is just inviting trouble and you may aswell hand your children on a platter to the pedophiles and sexual predators. They must be rubbing their hands together in glee, waiting for some poor innocent little child to come knocking.

  5. H on November 2nd, 2008 8:44 am 5

    A story broke in America of a father and son, who approached a house for trick or treating, knocked on the door, thought they heard fireworks and ended up getting shot… The son was killed, the father is in hospital fighting for his life..

    Whilst I don’t think it’s as likely to happen over here now… What about 10 years down the track? If we’re going to take the fun stuff from America, the rest will follow eventually..