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Readiness Urged During “America’s Safe Schools Week”
Written by
Lesly Hallman
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Wednesday, October 06, 2004 — The American Red Cross is marking this year’s “America’s Safe Schools Week” (Oct. 17-23) by reminding the public about the importance of educating children in disaster safety.
Preliminary results from a Red Cross study released last week suggest that students show no increase in disaster knowledge after the fifth grade. Researchers found that while kindergarteners through fifth graders showed an increase in disaster knowledge every year until the fifth grade, after the fifth grade, disaster knowledge actually appeared to decrease, as did the students’ overall ability to react to disaster situations.
Awareness of first aid, disaster response and general safety information was high among third through fifth graders.
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The findings are a part of from The School Safety Initiative (SSI), an AT&T Wireless-sponsored pilot study evaluating and measuring program delivery, components and learning outcomes in the areas of prevention, preparedness and response in the school environment.
These findings come from students who had not yet started the initiative’s programs, to gauge their knowledge and have a comparison baseline. Children’s knowledge, behavior and attitudes around first aid, safety, disaster knowledge and preparedness along with leadership were evaluated through written surveys, focus groups and one-on-one interviews. Participants were from rural, suburban and urban areas and of various ethnicities and socio-economic status. More than 10,000 students participated in this first phase of the program.
“This program was conceptualized to deliver a broad range of Red Cross services to schools,” to increase awareness of how to prepare for and deal with disasters, said Barbara Muth of the Red Cross. “And this is not just about teaching for disasters, but also bringing children together to learn and to develop leadership skills.”
In addition to showing that disaster knowledge significantly declined after the fifth grade, the results also showed:
- Kindergarten through second grade students in urban schools had a significantly higher recall of the number to dial in an emergency (911). There was a significant leap in call 911 knowledge between kindergarten and first grade, indicating that this is probably the time when most students learn how to call 911.
- Age appropriate awareness of first aid, disaster response and general safety information was high among third through fifth graders.
- Knowledge of first aid and responding to disasters decreased slightly over time. First aid scores were consistently higher than disaster scores – illustrating that first aid training seems to still be taught in middle school and high school.
While the first phase of SSI looked at knowledge, behavior and attitudes, the second phase will evaluate the effect of Red Cross resources. Currently in schools around the country, Red Cross tools for educators support current school curriculum and build on the specific expertise of the organization—including disaster preparedness and training in first aid and CPR. Resources like Masters of Disaster,™ a kit of ready-to-go lesson plans, activities and demonstrations of hazard-related lifesaving information, are designed for flexibility to allow for integration into the core academic subjects. Supplements to Masters of Disaster include Facing Fear, developed after 9/11 to address a demand by educators and caregivers for materials to help children cope in uncertain times.
For more information on American Red Cross preparedness and safety resources for kids visit: http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_503_,00.html
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