Halloween Safety Tips for Tonight!

Dr. Michael Finch, a South Carolina Medical Association Board Member and Pediatrician has developed some Halloween safety tips! As your students and children prepare to trick-or-treat tonight remember to stay safe and follow these suggestions:

1) Try to have reflective stripes, clothes, or at least a hat on your child.

2) Have them carry a flashlight

3) Only trick or treat in areas that you know and are comfortable with.

4) Parents should still try to look through the child's bag at the end of the night.

5) The child shouldn't enter someone's home (i.e. like for a haunted house inside) unless a parent is with them

6) Parents should avoid driving through crowded, often dark neighborhood streets while the kids are out and about. Try just to walk along the curb, and they can run down to the doors, etc., or go down with them if younger

7) Consider a meeting spot or particular house in case you get separated.

8) Despite all the excitement, be sure children look carefully and not be allowed to dash into a dark street in their haste to get to the next house.

9) Residents should try to be tolerant of groups of YOUNGER children with their parents who are not from the neighborhood in which they are trick or treating (as long as good manners prevail). While there was a time this frustrated me, I realized later that the parents likely feel unsafe in their own neighborhood and sought out a better place.

10) Lastly, expect and encourage good manners in the children, avoid littering, and respect the homeowners property and privacy if lights are out and they are done for the night.

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