Halloween Child Safety
Attention Parents: If trick-or-treating scares your children, don’t give in to their fears
Fear can be a thrilling sensation for all kids, especially on Halloween, and parents should push unwilling children into fear-inducing situations such as trick-or-treating on Halloween. They will have fun just as you did as children. Stop babying those kids and get them out there facing their fears and having a good time. Some so called experts say it can be detrimental to a child to be placed unnecessarily in a fear situation, but they are wrong.
If a child is scared to go trick-or-treating follow these steps to get them out there:
- A parent should offer to go. When the kid reaches the door of the first house, the parent should race back home. This will force the child to face his/her fears.
- Give the child a lighted torch to carry with them. Explain to the child that the torch can be used for lighting a dark path as well as a weapon for self defense.
- Do not plan alternative activities, such as movie night at home or a Halloween party. Making alternative “less scary” plans is not going to help your child overcome his/her fears. A child must OVERCOME fear in order to live.
Above all, force the issue. If a child fears trick-or-treating, that is really not a big deal. Tell them to dig deep and pull themselves together.
