Safety and first aid behavioral intentions of supervised and unsupervised third grade students

This study assessed the safety and first aid behavioral intentions of 285 third grade students. Of the participants, 19% were left at home unsupervised by someone older than age 12 at least three days a week. Students responded to a survey instrument that described situations related to stranger safety, fire safety, accident prevention, and first aid. Stranger safety items received the most correct responses, with females scoring significantly higher than males. Most responses to fire safety items were inappropriate, and 40% of accident prevention items received a dangerous response most frequently. First aid items received more dangerous responses than appropriate ones. Supervised students scored significantly higher than unsupervised students in accident prevention and first aid. Results indicated students' behavioral intentions often were dangerous for situations requiring judgments about safety or application of first aid.