@article{ref1,
title="The effectiveness of parents in promoting the development of road crossing skills in young children",
journal="British journal of educational psychology",
year="1998",
author="Thomson, James A. and Grieve, R. and Lee, D. N. and Ampofo-Boateng, K. and Pitcairn, T. K. and Demetre, J. D.",
volume="68",
number="4",
pages="475-491",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Young children show poor judgment when asked to select a safe place to cross the road, frequently considering dangerous sites to be safe. Correspondingly, child pedestrian accidents are over-represented at such locations. Increasing the child's ability to recognise such dangers is a central challenge for road safety education. AIMS: Practical training methods have proved effective in improving such judgments but are labour-intensive, time-consuming and therefore difficult to implement on a realistic scale. The study examined the possibility that volunteers from the local community might be capable of using such methods to promote children's pedestrian competence. SAMPLE: Sixty children from the Primary 1 (Reception) classes of three Glasgow schools took part. Volunteers were ordinary parents from the same areas. None had 'formal' experience of working with children other than through being parents. METHOD: Volunteers received experience of training children at courses organised in each school. Children learned in small groups, receiving two sessions of roadside training followed by four on a table-top model. Pre- and post-tests allowed the effectiveness of training to be assessed. RESULTS: Significant improvements relative to controls were found in all children following training. Improvements proved robust and no deterioration was observed two months after the programme ended. Comparison with a previous study in which training was undertaken by highly qualified staff showed that the volunteers were as effective as 'expert' trainers. CONCLUSIONS: Parent volunteers can significantly increase the pedestrian competence of children as young as five years. They constitute a most valuable 'resource' in road safety education. The opportunities afforded by involving the local community in educational interventions should be further explored.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0007-0998",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}