So, I previously wrote about how October is known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month but what it is also greatly known for is the holiday that is widely celebrated on the last day of this month, Halloween! Halloween can be a great time for kids and adults to get dressed up and go house to house trick-or-treating. Our duty as Good Samaritans is to make sure that holidays, especially this holiday, where most festivities take place at night, is ensued with safety. We can do this by giving out safe candies and carefully watching our children while they are out and about the streets on this night. This fun and exciting holiday can have a serious downside if parents don't take the proper precautions when trick-or-treating.
I found on this site the history, myths and realities of poisoned candy on Halloween and I think it is incredibly interesting and that everyone should check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_scare. According to this site, the first poisoning of candy that took place was in New York in the year 1964. This New York housewife apparently was sick of children who were supposedly to old to be trick-or-treating, so on Halloween of '64 she gave out packages of steel wool, dog biscuits and ant buttons that were even labeled as "poison". No one was harmed by this housewife's dangerous gesture but she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty for the potential endangerment of these children.
On http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp?print=y, this person talks about a more recent incident that occurred in 2000 in Minneapolis. A man by the name of James Joseph Smith placed needles into Snickers candy bars and gave them out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Smith was charged with one count of adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness when a 14-year-old boy was pricked by the needle that was put into the bar after he had bitten into it. Luckily, the boy did not have to require medical attention.
There are plenty more stories like these floating around the interweb, so in order to keep yourself and your trick-or-treater from becoming the subject of one of these stories, make sure to check your child's food before letting them eat it. For help and tips on how to have a safe and happy Halloween you can check out http://stepdadsecrets.stepdads101.com/archives/82! So, you can read those over and get an early start on how to be a Safe Samaritan this Halloween. And remember, a Good Samaritan never tampers with candy and then gives it to unsuspecting innocent children!
On http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp?print=y, this person talks about a more recent incident that occurred in 2000 in Minneapolis. A man by the name of James Joseph Smith placed needles into Snickers candy bars and gave them out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Smith was charged with one count of adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness when a 14-year-old boy was pricked by the needle that was put into the bar after he had bitten into it. Luckily, the boy did not have to require medical attention.
There are plenty more stories like these floating around the interweb, so in order to keep yourself and your trick-or-treater from becoming the subject of one of these stories, make sure to check your child's food before letting them eat it. For help and tips on how to have a safe and happy Halloween you can check out http://stepdadsecrets.stepdads101.com/archives/82! So, you can read those over and get an early start on how to be a Safe Samaritan this Halloween. And remember, a Good Samaritan never tampers with candy and then gives it to unsuspecting innocent children!
1 comment:
This post really caught my eye! At first, of course, the picture of the candy caught my eye, but as I started to read it, I found it very interesting. I remember when I was younger and my mom wouldn't let us eat any of our candy, after trick-or-treating, until we got home so she could check it! I guess she had heard of these stories and was a little worried.
It was hard to believe that someone would actually tamper with candy that little kids would eat! But after reading the stories in your links, I realized that there are some wierdos out there! I think it was a good idea for a post, to get people aware that this actually does go on and you have to be safe, even if your kids think its ridiculous, like I always did.
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