Halloween safety worries lead to ‘trunk-or-treating’ [Chicago Tribune]
By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
It's called "trunk-or-treating," the latest slant on the annual
"We know everyone who is passing out the candy," said
Similar holiday tailgating can be found from
No one is exactly sure when Americans became scared of
Still, that hasn't stopped some elementary schools from banning costumes and sweets because "safety is a top priority." And in a relatively recent phenomenon, officials in numerous communities have cautioned parents to check the sex offender registry before going door to door.
In a study titled "How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters? An Analysis of Child Sex Crime Rates on
"We almost called this paper '
Concern about poisoned candy and razor blades in apples gained traction in the early 1970s, according to
In
A similar tale circulated in
At their root, these stories reflected the national mood at the time, Best said. "A war was going on. ... We had hippies and campus unrest. There was all this anxiety about losing the kids."
Even so, some people will never be convinced, Best said. "An urban legend is harder to kill than a vampire."
Since then she has argued against encasing kids in "bubble wrap" on the speakers circuit and with her Free-Range Kids blog .
Her sons started door-to-door candy collecting around fourth grade. When others would confront Skenazy with, "How can you let them go trick-or-treating at night?" she'd shoot back: "How can you let your kid go to your relatives'?" referring to evidence that the vast majority of kids who are molested are victimized by friends or family.
And when people would raise an eyebrow over her sons' costumes -- which often included some weaponry -- she'd have a ready retort for that, too. "If everyone who played with a gun became a criminal, why didn't everyone who played with blocks turn into an architect?"
She's all for bike helmets, seat belts and reflective gear, but not X-raying candy. "This holiday is about kids practicing being grown-ups," Skenazy said. "One night a year, they get to dress up and go out ... at night. They get to practice at being an adult, which is so rare in a time when we constantly do everything for our children."
That doesn't mean that there isn't some peril associated with the last day of October, but it has nothing to do with "stranger danger."
Four times as many pedestrian deaths occur on
Pane, vice president for research at Child Trends, a
When her husband asked, "How many kids die by these things, anyway?" Pane started scrutinizing causes of death across childhood, so parents could focus their energy in a smarter, more data-driven way, she said.
The result? A 60-minute "worry clock" that shows how many "minutes" should be allocated to fretting over potential hazards from birth to age 19. Upon closer examination, it wasn't blind cords or electrical outlets that Pane needed to worry about; it was sleep. Suffocation deaths accounted for 30 minutes of the clock during the first year of life.
"I did co-sleeping with my children ... and when I look back, I did everything wrong," said Pane, whose children are now 6 and 8. "I didn't know about babies' wedging -- where they wedge their heads between the mattress and something else -- and how fatal it can be."
For adolescents, the clock looks very different. While parents might obsess about drugs, the more prevalent danger is teen driving, which accounts for 26 minutes.
Poison treats and child abductions did not register even 1 minute on the so-called worry clock for any age group.
This
"We just have so much more access to information now," said Fields, mother of a 2-year-old girl.
When Fields was stung by a bee recently, she wondered whether Hannah could suffer the same fate. "I thought I should get an EpiPen for the house, my purse, the glove compartment," she said, referring to the prescribed medical device that injects epinephrine to thwart an acute allergic reaction. Bees didn't make Pane's worry clock at all.
But when Fields polled her friends, instead of dismissing her concerns, they all responded with: "Where can I get an EpiPen?"
The statistics provide scant comfort to one
She planned to take her kids to a "trunk-or-treating" event instead of traditional trick-or-treating -- but she also has declined the school bus, sleepovers and grapes. Most recently she's added hot dogs to the list after seeing a report of a choking death at
"Every time I get close to changing my mind about something, there's a story out there that convinces me I'm right," she said. "You just can't be too careful."
___
(c)2013 the Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1283 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News