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Teaching Safety Skills to Children: A Discussion of Critical Features and Practice Recommendations
Rasha R Baruni1, Raymond G Miltenberger1
1Department of Child and Family Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612 USA.
Insights
Children need safety skills to prevent harm from environmental hazards and dangerous behaviors. This review highlights best practices in assessing and training these crucial safety skills for improved child protection.
Area of Science:
- Child Safety
- Behavioral Science
- Risk Assessment
Background:
- Children face significant safety threats from environmental hazards and interpersonal risks.
- Failure to acquire safety skills can lead to severe injury or fatality.
- Extensive research over 40 years has focused on methods for assessing and training child safety skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review critical features of best practices in assessing and training child safety skills.
- To provide recommendations for practicing behavior analysts based on current research.
- To emphasize key elements for effective and accessible safety skill development in children.
Main Methods:
- Review of research on child safety skill assessment and training over the past 40 years.
- Identification and discussion of critical features for best practice.
- Focus on in situ assessments, effective training, data-based decisions, generalization, maintenance, accessibility, and training for individuals with disabilities.
Main Results:
- Best practices involve in situ assessments and effective, data-driven training approaches.
- Strategies for generalization and maintenance are crucial for long-term safety.
- Ensuring accessibility and adapting training for individuals with disabilities are key considerations.
Conclusions:
- Implementing best practices in safety skill assessment and training is vital for child protection.
- Behavior analysts should utilize evidence-based strategies for effective skill development.
- Continued focus on generalization, maintenance, and accessibility will enhance the impact of safety training programs.
Abstract:
Children may encounter safety threats from the physical environment (e.g., firearms or poisonous substances) or from the behaviors of others (e.g., abduction or sexual abuse lures). Such encounters may result in injury or death if children do not learn skills to respond safely. Research over the last 40 years has investigated approaches to assessing and training safety skills. This article discusses critical features that have emerged in the research related to best practice for assessing and training safety skills. We emphasize the importance of in situ assessments, effective training approaches, the need for data-based decision making, strategies for enhancing generalization and maintenance, the accessibility of training programs, and approaches to training individuals with disabilities. Following a discussion of each critical feature presented in this article, we provide recommendations for practicing behavior analysts.
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