A Halloween Safety Checklist

(This is a photo of drugs made to look like candy)

Halloween is a fun and exciting holiday for children everywhere!  It is estimated that almost 94 percent of children between the ages of four and twelve will participate in Halloween activities this year.  Picking out the perfect costume, carving pumpkins, and trick of treating for candy, makes Halloween one of the most popular holidays besides Christmas.  But for many parents, Halloween brings anxiety because of the potential dangers their children could face, as many child predators use this time of year to try and entice unsuspecting children into their homes.  By teaching children a few safety tips, parents can ensure that their children have a fun and safe Halloween!

1. NEVER allow young children to go out alone!  Even if they want to go with a group of their friends, young children under the age of 12 should ALWAYS be accompanied by an adult.  Older children should go as a group and stay together at ALL times!
2. Choose light or brightly colored flame retardant costumes, so the child can be seen by drivers.  Add reflective tape and have them carry a glow stick or flashlight to increase visibility.  Choose face paint instead of masks, so that the child's vision won't be obstructed.
3. Only trick or treat in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets.  Avoid dark streets and secluded homes.
4. ALWAYS walk a young child to the door to receive their goodies, and NEVER allow a child to enter someone's home for any reason.
5. Children should be taught to walk on the sidewalks and use crosswalks.  Children under 12 should not cross the street without an adult.
6. If your child is going as part of a group, make sure they know their home phone number and address in case they become separated from the group.  Check to see if someone in the group has a cell phone.  Also, teach them how to properly call 911.
7. Teach your child not to approach anyone in a vehicle who tries to call out to them.  Tell them to back away from the car and quickly go towards the nearest adult with children.
8. Tell them to scream loudly, "Kidnapper! Call the Police!  Someone please help me!" if someone tries to grab them away from their group.  This will garner the attention of all adults within earshot.  Also, have someone in the group carry a loud whistle to blow if they are attacked, and tell all of the kids to yell for help and fight back if someone is trying to abduct one of them.
9. Instead of going house to house on unfamiliar streets, consider organizing a block party with your neighbors where the kids could stay in your immediate area and have fun.
10. Check all of your child's treats for signs of tampering, before allowing them to eat any of the goodies.  If it is unwrapped, faded, smells funny or just doesn't look right - THROW IT AWAY!  Please be aware that there are unscrupulous people out there, that have made drugs that look like candy and could make your kid seriously sick or worse.

Child safety is important every day of the year, and parents should be vigilant at all times.  But on a night like Halloween, parents really need to be aware of their surroundings, and know that some child predators have planned for months on how they will take advantage of a child.  Many police agencies visit known sex offenders prior to Halloween night to remind them not to decorate or give out candy.  Sadly, not all sex offenders are properly registered and some will slip through the cracks waiting to strike again.

Does Your Child Walk From School Alone?

Unfortunately, everyday thousands of children have to walk home from school alone.  Parents are not always able to pick their child up from school or the child has to walk a good distance from a bus stop.  No matter what the circumstance is that causes your child to have to walk alone, please teach them the following steps to stay safe on their journey:

• First, your child should try to make friends with another child or group of children that are walking the same route.  Teach them that there is safety in numbers.  This rule applies whether they are going to the restroom at school, walking home, going to the mall, etc.
• Check with a neighbor and see if they are available to pick your child up or at least check in with your child when they get home.
• Remind your children that adults should never ask them for help.  They are a child.  Adults should always ask other adults for help, so tell your child to not feel guilty about walking away from an adult.
• Tell your child if they are ever approached by someone they don't know (please don't say stranger*), they should remember the 3 B's.

• Get Back - As the person approaches them, the child should take 4 big steps backward.  If the adult continues toward the child after they have stepped back, the child should hold up their hand and loudly state, "Stay Back!"

• Run Back -  If that doesn't stop the forward progress of the adult, at this point the child should run as fast as they can to a safe place (back to school, a neighbor's house, library, neighborhood store, etc).  As they are running they should scream, "Kidnapper! Call the Police!" over and over as loud as they can.

• Fight Back -  If they are unable to run, or is the adult grabs them, this is when the child must fight back with everything they have.  You have to make your child understand that their life depends on this and they are to kick, scratch, scream, bite and do everything possible to get away. While they are fighting yell at the top of their lungs, "Kidnapper! Call the Police!"  This phrase is better to yell because it instantly garners any surrounding adults attention.

We mentioned earlier that you shouldn't tell your kids to never talk to strangers.  Why is this?  Most kids do not understand which adults should be 'classified' as strangers.  And if you ask a group of 50 young kids to describe what a stranger looks like, you will get a wide range of descriptive answers, but few will say it's someone they don't know.

Hopefully, your child will never have to experience a frightening experience like this, but you always want to prepare your child ahead of time for anything.  If you have discussed it and given them a plan of action, they are less likely to freeze and be a docile victim.

Remember - "If you fail to prepare them, Prepare to fail them!"

#safeandunafraid #mvacaunited 

Fire Safety Tips For Families

It's 3 o'clock in the morning and your fire alarm starts to beep.  You wake up and smell smoke.  What is the first thing you should do?  Is your family prepared? When is the last time you held a family fire drill?  Have you ever held a fire drill?  Have you planned your escape route in the event of a fire?  Why not?

Fires tend to peak during the months of December, January and February which are usually the coldest months of the year.  Home structure fires are reported about every 85 seconds nationally.  Did you know that approximately 3,500 people are killed in fires each year?  How many of these deaths could have been prevented had they practiced a fire drill or had a prepared fire escape route?  If you and your family practice drills ahead of time, your family's reaction time will decrease exponentially and every second counts!

When planning a fire escape route for your family, keep the following checklist in mind:

• One of the most important things you can do, is to make sure there are working smoke alarms in each room, and working carbon monoxide detectors on each level of a home.
• Make sure all smoke alarms are less than 10 years old, and are tested on a regular basis.
• Test the alarms during the night and see if your child responds.  Some children do not react to the beeping of a smoke alarm.  If this is your child, invest in a talking alarm that says something like, "Fire! Get up!".
• Draw a floor plan of your dwelling and mark at least two exits out of every room.
• Gather the family and review the floor plan and physically walk through the escape route with each child.  Make sure each child has a thorough understanding of what to do in the case of a fire.
• If you have multiple children sharing a room, assign partners to insure each other's safety.
• Teach everyone to touch the door and knob before opening it, to see if they feel hot to the touch.  If they feel warm, use the alternate exit route if possible.
• Ensure that everyone knows how to stuff blankets, sheets or clothes into the cracks of the doors and vents, if trapped in a room.  Also, make sure that they have a flashlight in each room to signal for help if trapped.
• Do not linger in a burning building trying to collect photos, jewelry or family heirlooms. NOTHING is more precious than your life!
• Designate an outside meeting place that everyone is familiar with.  Each family member should stay at the meeting place until everyone has escaped.  Some examples of meeting places might be a mailbox, the neighbor's house, a nearby corner, etc.
• Make sure that all of the designated exit routes are easily accessible.
• Make sure that your dwelling number is clearly visible for firefighters and all first responders.
• No one should ever try to re-enter a burning building for any reason.  Stay outside and alert the first responders where you think a trapped person or animal may be.  

Finally, it is crucial that home fire escape drills are practiced at least twice a year. The more you practice, the less panicked everyone will be when faced with a fire.

No one plans for a fire, but the better prepared you are when one occurs, the better your chances are of getting out alive.

Remember - "If You Fail to Prepare, then Prepare to Fail!"