Whiny lazy parents

I read this today and just got annoyed. If you don't want to follow the link, it's a story about parents fears, sex offenders, and trick-or-treating. Here's an excerpt

"Obviously, there's something not right in those people's minds. Anyway, so there's no telling what they would want to give to a child or even what they're thinking about when your child goes up to the front door," said Jasan Hazzard.

I agree, sex offenders are scary. But have you ever thought about, I know it's crazy, but going out with your kids? I know, active parenting. It's a lot to ask. I could be wrong, but I am betting that if you are standing two steps behind your child the scary guy isn't going to yank your precious goblin into his home. And if he tried, you could do something about it

You know, when I was a kid, my dad went with me into the neighborhood. It was great. He carried extra bags in his coat and he would carry the overfilled bags for me. I wasn't allowed to eat any of the candy until after I got home and it had been throughly checked by my parents. We walked through the entire neighborhood so there were plenty of calories burned. Same rules apply with my son. We make an event out of it. Hubby and I get dressed up to take the kiddo out for the annual sugar fest. We have fun and we get to spend time together as a family.

But our family has become the minority. Once we have finished our rounds and returned home, we flip on the porch light and welcome the miniature ninjas, witches, and princesses. Our candy solicitors fall mostly into 2 groups:
1. Chubby kids waddling from mom's still running SUV. These kids might become terribly out of breath if forced to actually walk down a whole street. I almost feel guilty giving them such calorie laden treats. That is until I see the porky chocolate stained fingers of the parental chauffeur. I can only hope their poor overworked heart prevents future procreation. At least rescue crews can properly train with these.
and
2. Kids I have never seen before in the 8 previous Halloweens that I have passed out candy from the same location. A quick glance to the street reveals no parents to be seen. I often wonder how long it would take before they would be missed. I shouldn't, but I always worry about these kids and often watch them heading on down the street until they are out of range. I'm sure I have already invested plenty of my hard earned money in raising them via state programs, is it really so much more to spend an ounce of concern on them?

Attention parents, here's a novel idea. Try parenting. The responsibility is yours, not the state's, not the policeman's, and certainly not your neighbor's. You can look up the addresses of sex offenders in your area, don't send your kid knocking on that door. But that does require you to actually be involved in your kids activities so it's probably asking too much.