Halloween Myths and Safety

I love Halloween.  This year I am showing my love for the holiday by buying seven bags of candy, even though we get about nine trick-or-treaters, and I bought a costume for the cat.  It’s a bowtie, and it’s adorable.

Of course we all know what’s really important on Halloween.  Trick-or-treating, of course!  But what can be one of the most exciting days of the year for kids, can be a tricky (no pun intended) day for parents.  Considering all the warnings that are common on this holiday, it’s no wonder that parents might worry.  So, in hopes that everyone’s Halloween might be a bit more restful, here are some common Halloween myths, and some information that disproves them from http://www.keepyourchildsafe.org/child-safety-book/halloween-safety.html. 

1. There are razor blades and foreign objects in candy.  There has never been a single documented incident of razor blades in candy.
2. Strangers poison candy.  Again, there has never been a documented incident of intentional candy poisoning in the United States.  There have been claims of this, but it turned out to be parents trying to cover up the murder of their child.
3. Child abductions are more common on Halloween.  Statistics show that abductions are no more likely to happen on Halloween than they are on any other day of the year.  In many states there are also rules for registered sex offenders on Halloween, such as a curfew, requiring that lights be left off, and signs on doors saying there is no candy.

With that being said, there are some risks that everyone should be aware of on Halloween, here’s a list of things to be watching for:

1. Pedestrian accidents or deaths.  Child pedestrian deaths spike to more than four times normal rates on Halloween, partly due to the large number of children out in the streets, and partly due to drivers coming home from Halloween parties.
2. Fire.  There is always a risk when children are dressed in flammable costumes or costumes with loose or dragging pieces of cloth.  The risk is increased when there are lit candles in homes, in jack-o-lanterns, and bonfires.
3. Risk of theft and bullying.  Children are often targeted for theft, bullying and other kinds of harassment on Halloween, usually at the hands of other, often older, kids.

Ways to help keep kids safe on Halloween are pretty simple.  One of the simplest ways to ensure that your child/children stay safe is to go with them as they trick-or-treat.  If you have a child who is old enough to go trick-or-treating without an adult, make sure they go in a larger group, and make sure that you know all the kids who are in the group.  Have children bring a flashlight with new batteries with them when they trick or treat, not only will this help their own visibility as they go door-to-door, but this will make them more visible to other pedestrians and motorists.  If you are driving Halloween night, make sure you pay more attention and drive more cautiously than normal, especially in residential areas.  Last, but not least, go over safety tips with your kids.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Word of the Week: Team Work

Team work.  I think that the general consensus would be that team work is an important thing.  We urge kids to have good team work, there’s an emphasis on team work in jobs as you work together to make things happen and get things done, and what would organized sports be without team work.  So, why is team work this week’s word of the week (yes, I know it’s actually two words), if it’s already so well known?  Well, I think that, though people are familiar with the concept in general, there are areas where team work isn’t as emphasized as it is in other areas, though it should be.  And that’s what makes team work this week’s word.

Dictionary.com defines team work as cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause, or, work done with a team.

The area where I feel teamwork could be enhanced is within my own area, the nonprofit sector.  There are excellent cases where nonprofits work well together, United Ways are typically a good example of this.  Why team work is so important to nonprofits is the same as with any other group working together: nonprofits can get more done when we work as a team than we can if we work separately all the time.

In the end, it’s not the nonprofits that benefit most from team work, it’s the community.  When nonprofits combine their resources to work towards a common goal, or if nonprofits work independently of each other, but still side-by-side to reach the same goal in a community, that benefits us all.

The reason behind everything we do at the Sherburne County Area United Way is to stop issues at their source, rather than merely treating the symptoms.  We are well aware that we cannot do this alone, and, thanks to many partnerships within the community, we don’t have to.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the agencies, businesses, and individual community members that we are fortunate to work with.  And I would like to say that I am very excited to see how we can broaden our efforts through team work within the community.