Abstract

PICO MERCHAN, María Eugenia; GONZALEZ PEREZ, Rosa Elena  and  NORENA ARISTIZABAL, Olga Patricia. KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES RELATED WITH PDESTRIAN SAFETY IN FIFTH GRADERS FROM PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. MANIZALES. Hacia promoc. Salud [online]. 2010, vol.15, n.2, pp.94-109. ISSN 0121-7577.

Objective: To identify the knowledge and some practices related with pedestrian safety in fifth graders from public educational institutions registered in 2009 in the urban area of Manizales. Material and method: Quantitative, descriptive type research; target population: 4,831 fifth grade students, both male and female, from 44 public educational institutions in the urban area of Manizales. Probability sampling with a reliability margin of 95%, error margin of 5%, estimate percentage of 70%, for a 336 students sample using the statistics program Stast was found. Results: Students between 10 and 14 years of both sexes (DE=2,41, media 10,10 years) from low socioeconomic status. 89% of the population studied had social security at the time of the study. From the total participants (n = 336), 84% were aware of the traffic signs related to men working, the pedestrian walk away sign (81%), cyclists on the road (77%). What attracts the attention is that only 29% of the students knew the school zone signs and 44% knew the bus stop signs. As far as the road infrastructure is concerned, the students said that near their houses and schools there are few pedestrian crosses and pedestrian bridges. The teacher is the meaningful adult in the road safety learning after the parents. They considered damaged or turned off traffic lights as the most dangerous situations to cross a street, followed by the absence of traffic lights. They prefer to play on streets close to their houses because of the absence of parks where to play. Conclusions: because of their condition as students, the participants in the study expose themselves several times during the day to the danger of crossing streets. The lack of sufficient road infrastructure including pedestrian crossings and pedestrian bridges, as well as damaged or turned off traffic lights is worrying. The conceptions and what underlies in some urban contexts students pedestrian practices are a strategy to have a bearing on inclusive public policies for citizen education from the perspective of health promotion, human security, respect, responsibilities and rights of pedestrians.

Keywords : Safety; boys and girls; practices; knowledge; traffic accident; schools.

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