Trick-or-treat activities should be monitored.

• Position: Child Safety

Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year for children, but sometimes the most hectic for parents. Nearly 94% of kids between the ages of four and 12 participate in Halloween activities each year.

Tim Kang, actor from the television show "The Mentalist," has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Washington, D.C., to help educate parents about what they should be telling their offspring to keep them free from harm.

Parents need to take a moment to consider basic safety precautions that will make Halloween a safer night of fun:

* Choose bright, flame-retardant costumes or add reflective tape to costumes and candy bags so youngsters are seen easily in the dark. In addition. carry a glow stick or flashlight.

* Plan a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Avoid unfamiliar territory, streets that are isolated, or homes that are poorly lit inside or outside.

* Never send kids out alone. They always should be accompanied by a parent or another trusted adult. Older children should travel in groups.

* Walk younger children to the door to receive treats and do not let children enter a home unless you are with them.

* Be sure youngsters do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.

* Discuss basic pedestrian safety rules that trick-or-treaters should use when walking to or from houses.

* Consider organizing a home...