The effectiveness of parents in promoting the development of road crossingskills in young children

Background. Young children show poor judgement 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 l ocations. Increasing the child's ability to recognise such dangers is a cen tral challenge for road safety education. Aims. Practical training methods have proved effective in improving such ju dgments but are labour-intensive, time-consuming and therefore difficult to implement on a realistic scale. The study examined the possibility that vo lunteers 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 Glas gow 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 orga nised in each school. Children learned in small groups, receiving two sessi ons of roadside training followed by four on a table-top model. Pre- and po st-tests allowed the effectiveness of training to be assessed. Results. Significant improvements relative to controls were found in all ch ildren following training. Improvements proved robust and no deterioration was observed two months after the programme ended. Comparison with a previo us 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 co mpetence of children as young as five years. They constitute a most valuabl e 'resource' in road safety education. The opportunities afforded by involv ing the local community in educational interventions should be further expl ored.