Ready for Halloween? Make sure it’s a safe one with these 7 clever tips.

1. Some people still use candles to light pumpkins… so, costumes should be non-flammable and fit properly (a few inches above the ground will keep material away from flames while decreasing the likelihood of tripping!)

2. Kids need to see all of the cool Halloween decorations and where they are going! Masks should have eye holes that allow for peripheral vision (ie: masks that don’t cover any area of the eye socket)

3. Have a plan and stick to it! Plan where you will trick-or-treat and give each child a map of the area with your agenda highlighted. Write your name and mobile phone number on the map and place it in each child’s candy collection vessel.

4. Children love things that glow and parents should too! Flashlights work, but can get annoying to carry. Try placing a glow stick or glow necklace on each child to make him or her visible as the sun goes down.

5. Check the treats for holes, open wrappers and bacteria? Of course you want to check your child’s candy for tampering, but you also need to think twice about homemade treats as they may have been prepared by unwashed hands or assembled on a dirty surface.

6. Stay in touch! When kids get older and want to break away for a moment (or for the night) stay in contact with walkie talkies or cellular phones. For younger kids, place a name tag with your mobile phone number on their back in case they get separated from you in a crowd!

7. Halloween is not ideal for driving, especially for teens! The streets are filled with kids, parents are often distracted and driving can be dangerous with costumes. These are just a few reasons not to drive on Halloween. If you can encourage new drivers to walk or be dropped off, this is the safest alternative.

For more Halloween safety tips or to learn more about child safety, visit Responsible Family blog and sign up for our Safety Pops newsletter!

Recently in San Francisco (where I live) a six-year-old boy was caught with a gun in his backpack at school. The boy brought the gun to his first grade class thinking that it was a toy and that it was safe. When teachers learned about the gun, the authorities were called in to handle the situation. And in an even more shocking twist of fate, this wasn’t the first incident this week of a child bringing a gun to school in San Francisco. As you can imagine, a massive media frenzy has surrounded these stories and an even more massive amount of fear has hit the parenting community.

Kids bringing weapons to school is not an uncommon occurrence, but it is an extremely alarming one. Thoughts of Columbine and other tragedies spring to mind when the words gun and school are mentioned in the same sentence. To call it horrifying would be an understatement.

What are parents to do when they send their kids to school thinking their child is safe only to learn that a classmate has brought a gun to the school grounds? How can parents keep their children safe in these types of scenarios? The most important thing is for parents to talk to their kids about guns and to explain that they are not toys and not to touch them, ever.

Gun Safety Tips

• It is not recommended that guns be stored in a home where children live.
• If guns are in the home, they should be disassembled, locked and stored in a locked compartment that is out of reach of children. Ammunition should be stored separately from guns, in a locked place, also out of reach of children.
• If guns are present in the home, parents should explain to all children in that residence that guns are not toys, that they can seriously hurt people and that they are off limits to children.
• Parents should explain to children that if they see a child playing with a gun (whether they think it is real or fake) to tell an adult immediately.
• Kids need to understand that guns are dangerous for children and guns should never be touched or played with. Parents and teachers should address this topic with children by the age of 4.
• Parents should talk about guns and other weapons with kids and explain that if a child sees a weapon in a school setting, he or she should tell a teacher, counselor or other safe adult about the gun immediately. Weapons do not belong on school grounds, period.
• Adults should communicate with the parents of their child’s friends about guns being in the home. When your child goes over to a friend’s house to play, ask a parent if there is a gun in the home and if so, where and how it is stored. If you do not feel comfortable with your child playing in a home where there is a gun, have the children play at your home.

Unfortunately guns, drugs and other dangers will never go away, so it is important for parents to follow the best safety practices and to never assume that everyone else is. To decrease the likelihood of guns being a threat to our children, parents can share helpful information, resources and safety practices with each other.

Schools can be safe places if parents, teachers and the community work together to stay informed about the dangers and safety precautions involved with guns. It is up to gun owners to be responsible for their weapons and to take the necessary steps to ensure that these objects stay out of children’s hands, but it is also up to parents to teach their children that guns are dangerous. In a world of unlimited possibilities, parents will feel much more at ease knowing their child is safe if they regularly communicate with the parents of their child’s friends, take preventative measures to increase their child’s safety and take the time to talk about the dangers of guns with their own children.

Gun Safety Resources

For more information about gun safety visit :
www.kidsandguns.org
www.paxusa.org
www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/safety6.htm