This month presents a fun holiday for children in the Castle Country area where they are able to play dress up. Carbon County Sheriff Jeff Wood took time to come to Castle Country Radio to discuss safety tips for the holiday.

There are many youngsters picking out their costumes for the Halloween holiday and it’s important that what they are getting is safe. “Costume safety is important, so you can put reflective tape on it, make sure they have a glow stick, but even the make-up this is something that I hadn’t thought about, but even the make-up you want to make sure that you test that before you put a lot of make-up on your kid to make sure there’s not an allergy there,” said Sheriff Wood. Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure the costume fits properly so its not baggy and there is nothing that can trip the child.

It’s imperative that children are aware of their surroundings at all times when they head out to go trick or treating. “The older kids especially that I want to talk about is this, the cell phone. Make sure that you remind your children when they go out, put your cell phone away because you don’t need to have your nose in the cell phone trying to cross the street or walking down the street you could trip or fall. There’s lots of issues that come with the cell phone so for that night carry your cell phone in your bag somewhere, keep it away,” stated Sheriff Wood. Parents need to be sure to teach their kids to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them. Always walk on sidewalks or paths, if there are no sidewalks, always walk facing traffic, so that traffic can see individuals walking.

“With the older kids and younger ones make sure that you are going with your younger ones, and I would say 12 and under, I would accompany by kids 12 and under if I was going out. The older kids I would plan a route, make sure they have boundaries for where they can be, plan a route and then have a time for them to be back,” explained Wood. It’s important that children never get in a vehicle they do not know nor should they enter anybody’s home that they do not know. Be aware of pets out on this night there is a possibility that pets can be skittish on this night due to the costumes and masks.

“You know that brings up a whole other thing too is the candy itself. Make sure that candy is in its original wrapper, and as the kids are trick or treating make sure your kids just don’t eat the candy until they get home so you can inspect the candy,” said Sheriff Wood. Any candy that looks questionable just throw it away it’s not worth a child getting sick over.

The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office hopes that all children in the Carbon celebrate Halloween in a safe manner.