The effectiveness of road-safety crossing guards: Knowledge and behavioral intentions

Problem: The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the crossing guard program in Israeli elementary schools, by comparing the knowledge of road-safety rules and the behavioral intentions of children from two types of schools - those with and those without the crossing guard program. Method: Two different questionnaires were given to 180 pupils. The first tested knowledge of traffic rules based on official curricula on road-safety. This questionnaire included items testing knowledge of rules on safe road-crossing and items testing the implementation of these rules through simulations conducted with puppets. The second questionnaire tested predicted intended road-crossing behavior. Results: The study shows that the crossing guard program carries a significant effect in some domains and within certain age groups. For example, seventh-graders studying at schools that operate the program showed better knowledge of traffic rules and more intention to look both ways before crossing a road than pupils studying in schools without the program. Two additional variables were found to affect the children's road-crossing behavior: gender, and school location (northern versus southern parts of the city).