Last year the Halloween and Costume Association launched a petition to celebrate Halloween on the last Saturday of October instead of the 31st.

Who is the Halloween and Costume Association?

The Halloween & Costume Association (HCA) (formally the Halloween Industry Association) was formally incorporated in 2005 as a 501(c)(6) trade organization to promote and build the celebration of Halloween in the United States. HCA represents businesses involved in the manufacture, importation or distribution of Halloween products including costumes, decor, novelty items and party supplies. HCA has grown to become the preeminent authority on Halloween and serves as a non-profit voice of the industry.

The theory is that the holiday could be celebrated in a more stress-free, family-friendly way where there is no school to contend with and trick-or-treaters would be able to scout the neighborhood for candy in the daylight hours, making it safer. Hmmmmmm.

CNN says the stats of children getting hurt on Halloween are incredibly scary!

Children are twice as likely to die on Halloween than any other day of the year as they trick-or-treat along our streets. That’s according to a 2012 State Farm analysis of more than 4 million fatalities between 1990 and 2010. An older study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was even scarier: Children were four times more likely to die on All Hallows’ Eve while walking.

More than a quarter of the deaths occurred between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., State Farm found, with 70% happening in the middle of the block, away from a crosswalk or intersection.

The petition lists safety tips for both parents and kids:

“63% of children don’t carry a flashlight while they are (trick)-or-treating. Grab a clip-on light if they don’t want to carry one! Children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween.”

The petition has almost 59,000 signatures and it’s growing. Want to see it? Click HERE

Susan Saunders 7/26/19