The many dangers that come with the festivities around the last day of October are why people should steer away from leaving their home on Halloween in pursuit of free candy.

Getting kids to stop celebrating Halloween is literally taking candy from a baby, but it is better than the alternative: potentially taking kids from their parents. With unaccompanied kids floating through every neighborhood during the dark hours of the evening, Halloween is unfortunately a perfect opportunity for strangers to get away with devious acts. A common phrase throughout many childhoods is “stranger danger,” but this idea seems to vanish into the dark on Halloween night, with parents leaving their children on their own while they stay at home to pass out candy.

From devil’s night in Detroit on Oct. 30 to the numerous abductions that occur on Oct. 31, the end of October provides too many people in southeastern Michigan an excuse to commit crimes devastating to local communities. If any parent doesn’t want their child to be harmed, they will keep their doors shut and locked on the last Sunday of October.