At Colorado Krav Maga Sunday morning, instructor Shannon Hiromasa stood in front of a group of children as she gave them tips on being safe around strangers.
The children sat cross-legged as parents lined the walls.
Lisa Lawson took her 10-year-old daughter to the class.
Jessica Ridgeway was also 10.
"It's really scary," Lawson said. "I used to feel safe sending my kids around the block. Now, I don't."
Hiromasa told the parents that it's important for your child to keep a safe distance from strangers, and that it's important for parents to be very clear about who children are OK to speak with.
Even if the kid knows the person, that person might not be someone the parent has told the child it's OK to speak or spend time with.
"If they're not with you - or somebody that they trust, they're not supposed to talk to anybody," Hiromasa told parents.
Hiromasa said if the child feels he or she is in danger, they should yell, "Stranger, stranger! Don't touch me there!"
That typically gets people's attention, since often a child shouting or screaming can be ignored by passersby.
Across town parents also took their children to a trick-or-treat event at Cheesman Park, sponsored by the H.E.A.R. Project, a nonprofit to help needy Colorado children with hearing loss.
"Halloween can be a dangerous environment, and it is important to make sure that you are providing a safe space for children," Cory Pornuff with H.E.A.R., said.
"This event, while we're not trying to replace trick-or-treating through the neighborhood by any means, is a place where you could bring small children."
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)