The effectiveness of parents in promoting the development of road crossing skills in young children

Thomson, J.A.; Ampofo‐Boateng, K.; Lee, D.N.; Grieve, R.; Pitcairn, T.K.; Demetre, J.D. · 1998 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1998.tb01306.x

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Summary

This study addresses the challenge of scaling practical road safety education for young children, who frequently demonstrate poor judgment when selecting safe crossing sites. While practical training methods have proven effective in improving children’s behavioral competence compared to traditional knowledge-based approaches, they are labor-intensive and difficult to implement widely. The research investigates whether ordinary parents, lacking formal qualifications or experience with children, can effectively deliver such training. The authors hypothesize that involving parent volunteers could provide a viable, scalable resource for road safety education, particularly in high-risk areas. The study involved 60 five-year-old children from three Glasgow schools, randomly assigned to either a trained group or a control group. Ten parent volunteers, recruited from the local community, received a one-day training course that included observation of expert trainers and supervised practice with children. The trained group participated in six 30-minute sessions: two conducted at roadside locations and four using a table-top traffic model. The training focused on helping children discover principles of safe route construction through guided reasoning rather than rote memorization, specifically targeting errors related to poor visibility and diagonal crossing paths. Children’s performance was assessed via pre-tests and two post-tests (immediately after training and two months later), where they selected safe routes to destinations at various roadside sites. Routes were scored on a four-point scale from "very unsafe" to "safe." Results indicated significant improvements in the trained group’s ability to construct safe routes. The proportion of "safe" routes increased from 15% at pre-test to 43% at the first post-test, while "very unsafe" routes dropped from 43% to 8%. These gains remained robust at the second post-test, with no statistically significant deterioration. In contrast, the control group showed almost no improvement. Statistical analysis confirmed a significant interaction between training and test phase. Notably, the effectiveness of parent volunteers was comparable to that of highly qualified staff in previous studies. A gender difference was observed, with boys constructing more safe routes than girls across all conditions, though this did not affect the rate or robustness of learning. The findings conclude that ordinary parents can significantly enhance the pedestrian competence of five-year-olds when provided with structured guidance and practical experience. This demonstrates that parent volunteers are a valuable resource for road safety education, capable of delivering complex, conceptual training as effectively as experts. The study suggests that involving the local community in educational interventions is a feasible strategy for scaling practical road safety programs, potentially overcoming the logistical and resource constraints associated with professional-led training.

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• child pedestrian

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• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation