MsKitka.com

Happy Halloween boils and ghouls! Today is the day when the veil between the living and the dead is so thin that the spirits are able to pass into our realm… but that’s not the scary part.

Today is also a day when parents need to be on the lookout for their children, making sure that when they go out trick-or-treating their kids are warm (safe from the cold), healthy (safe from razors in their candy apples), visible (safe from cars) and that their masks aren’t blocking their eyes so that they can cross the street without impaired vision. This year, however, America is most concerned about a different threat: the sex offenders.

Many states are enforcing a curfew tonight to keep sex offenders from roaming the streets and abducting children. The curfews begin between 3 and 7pm (depending on the state) and force sex offenders to stay indoors. The most organized state seems to be New York, where Governor George Pataki has ordered Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders to stay in their homes. This is smart because not every Level of sex offender preys on children.

The problem, however, is that you can keep the sex offenders from the children, but you can’t keep the children from the sex offenders. There are still a few horrifying scenarios that can come from children visiting the homes of sex offenders at Halloween:

• If not closely watched by parents, children can be invited inside;
• The sex offender can use Halloween as an opportunity to meet and greet his/her young neighbors and take advantage of them at a later date;
• Children can be invited to come back to the house and lured with the promise of more candy and more fun;
• Sex offenders can learn the name of your child on Halloween and target them for abduction at a later date from the local park.

So, simply forcing sex offenders inside for the evening isn’t really going to do much. As a parent, the only logical resolution is to know thy enemies. Therefore, here is Ms. Kitka’s guide for a happy and safe trick-or-treating experience with your little monsters:

• Do not allow your children to trick-or-treat without adult supervision;
• Take the children only to houses that you already know are safe;
• If you don’t know the area and enjoy being social, check with your city council to find out where the sex offenders are living so that you can avoid their homes like the plague;
• Make your children wear masks so that the sex offenders can’t see how absolutely adorable (molestable) your child is.

Thankfully, I don’t have any children to worry about…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 11:57 am and is filed under Kitka, Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.