UNITED STATES—With Halloween fast-approaching it’s time for us to discuss some important rules about safety. While a festive and spooky night, Halloween can also be dangerous. Kids are littered on the streets, and sometimes people behind the wheel fail to realize while driving in residential regions and major streets to slow their speed down. I cannot fathom anything more horrifying as a driver than the thought of potentially hitting and seriously injuring a child because I was not more aware. So that’s the first tip.

Next, we have to talk about this even though I’m certain many parents discuss this with their children quite often: stranger danger. Not all adults can be trusted and parents have to be vigilant to ensure not only to make this clear to their kids, but perhaps tagalong when it comes to trick-or-treating. In my personal opinion, anyone between the ages of 0-13 years old should be with a parent if they are trick-or-treating. You might say teenagers shouldn’t be out looking for candy on Halloween, and I agree, but trust me that does not stop them from doing it.

I mean I’ve seen near grown adults going door-to-door in hopes of scoring candy, and guess what, they’re not alone America. This might be the biggest rule that I think is important for parents: don’t allow your kids to touch a single piece of candy retrieved until it has been properly inspected. Yes, I totally get being a kid and finding it difficult to resist temptation, but it’s important, the adult refuses to cave on this rule. Why? You have no idea what can be in that candy, while we’d like to think, no one would poison or taint a child’s candy there are people out there who are disturbed.

I mean when I was a kid there were sick people who would place razors in fruit. Look, I get the notion of wanting kids having healthy snacks, but it’s Halloween. No one wants an apple or banana, and as a parent, if my child gets a piece of fruit I’m tossing it. There is no way to fully inspect the item to ensure its safe, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. The same applies for anything that is not wrapped. Yes, we want to trust no one would provide our kids with tainted items, but you cannot trust complete strangers, even though 95 percent of Americans would never do such a thing, there is that 5 percent or even less who may be tempted to do otherwise.

Some might love the notion of doing the door to door trick-or-treating, but more and more police departments are getting in on the fun and hosting what we call trunk-or-treat events, where officers participate in the Halloween festivities by dressing up and offering plenty and I mean plenty of treats for kids and its safe. I mean my niece did it last year and she had so much candy and treats, she really did NOT need to trick-or-treat, but we still did it anyway.

After getting home, let your child know there will be no eating of any candy or snacks until you have fully inspected every single piece. Pour everything out on the table and go thru it all. If you find anything that looks odd, slightly or even partially open or defected in any way, toss it out. You cannot take the risk of your child’s life or health, by letting them eat something that could potentially be contaminated. Halloween should be a fun time, so take these tips and follow them closely to ensure your child’s safety.