Article Critiques
The American Journal of Public Health published a research titled “An Evaluation of a Classroom Science, Intervention Designed to Extend the Bicycle Helmet Safety Message” in order to create awareness regarding the helmet safety. This study seeks to present the results of an evaluation of the knowledge of students with regard to the head safety and their attitude towards helmet use after the delivery of the Wizards of Motion Head Safety Intervention module that was introduced to grade seven science classrooms.The research question seeks to find out “what is the relationship between student head safety knowledge and their attitude towards helmet use after they were exposed to the delivery of the Wizards of Motion Head Safety Intervention module?”
The World Health Organization reveals that most of the hospitalized children suffering from head injuries that came as a result of bicycle accidents. The population sample for this study was 74 (35 males and 39 females) while two instruments were employed in data collection, and they comprised of a knowledge based test to record student’s knowledge on head safety and biomechanical concepts, as well as the questionnaires to collect information on the student’s present and prospective helmet use.The hypothesis of the study was to find out whether wearing a bicycle helmet was directly connected to the attitudes of these young children.
There is widespread use of bicycles by young children aged between 11 and 15 in varied daily activities, including visiting friends, adventure or for fun activities. From the 74 respondents who were involved in this study, it was reported that 84 percent rode bicycles on a daily basis while only 88 percent of these actually owned a helmet. Despite this, only 32 percent of those who owned the helmets, were reported to be wearing them when riding a bicycle even though the law requires that each child ought to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. The fact that these children ride bicycles without their parent’s watch, makes them even more susceptible to unintentional accidents. The study reveals that approximately 700,000 children aged 14 and below died succumbed to their injuries in 2002 following such accidents. According to the information collected before the intervention and awareness campaign, most children only wore helmet after being forced by their parents to do so and very few actually regarded bicycle helmet as a safety measure. Even though there was a slight difference following the post campaign test, an increase in the number of children wearing bicycle helmets was registered.
Furthermore, findings of the study also revealed that some of the children wore helmets to fulfill legal requirements. 
Most of the children gave reasons for not wearing helmets based on a negative attitude. For instance, some stated that they failed to wear the helmets because of peer pressure, the age of helmet and how bicycle helmets look old fashioned. Nonetheless, the researchers invited the children to view people who suffered severe head injuries because of bicycle accidents and this helped to change their mindsets. There is need to place emphasis with regard to bicycle helmet safety both at home and at school as a means of preventing future injuries. Finally, the hypothesis of the report was also right because it showed the main reason children failed to wear bicycle helmets was because of their attitude.
On the other hand, Blanton et al (2013) carried out a survey on how feasible physical activities for urban children. The main aim of the study was to find out the perceptions and opinions of a nature-based physical activity intervention that is specifically tailored for low income urban adolescents. The study has two research questions: what are the adolescent’s perceptions of engaging in PA in nature-based settings and what intervention is suitable for the prospective nature-based youth program within a positive youth development framework? The study was qualitative in nature and the data was collected through four focus groups.The study population was a group of twenty adolescents including seven males and thirteen females. The instruments used for the study included two sets of interview schedule that recorded information concerning their fears and perceptions from the four focus groups of adolescents, and 5 individuals who were interviewed. Before the interview, urban teenagers were reported to have possessed rigid attitudes towards nature based activities and preferred staying indoors playing video games. The study also covered the comprehension of youths regarding the words respect and responsibility.As such, the study sought to identify the opinions of teenagers concerning physical activities and sensitizing them on the essence of working out and exercise.
The results of the study revealed three categories of results which were grouped into natural thoughts, active interests, and implementing recommendations. The participants were to respond in two ways including what they like or dislike despite the fact that some questions were open ended. According to Blanton et al (2013) the natural thoughts of the adolescents with regard to the outdoor physical activities would be engaging in activities such as sitting outside in the fresh air and admiring the environment. Most of the participants disliked going out during the winter season as they believed that people were expected to remain indoors during cold seasons. The second category of the response revealed that outdoor activities, such as bike riding, camping, and playing ball games tended to interested the youths more. Majority of these youths were skeptical about workouts and activities that enhanced their body metabolism. The final category of implementing the recommendations, the respondents were of the opinion that they liked outdoor activities and would engage in them in order to implement what they had learnt. For example, they preferred cooperate activities that helped them to bond more with their friends. The research also delved into the comprehension of the adolescents with regard to respecting people and also defining their responsibilities. The participants viewed respect as treating individuals in the same way they expected to be treated in return while according to them, responsibility was what they were expected to do.
It is clear from the survey that most of the youths are not actively involved in outdoor activities for health purposes, but for sheer fun. Blanton et al (2013) also found out that the youths only got involved in physical activities during the summer but not on a regular basis. The findings revealed that they would prefer to interact with the mass media instead of being engaged in physical activities. With regard to this, health is not a priority for these youths when they get involved in outdoor activities, and as such health education practice ought to create more awareness to the adolescents regarding this subject.
It is only from us at Premium Essays that you can always be assured of obtaining professional help with academic research papers. With us, you are always guaranteed original papers of the best quality.
References
Blanton, J., Oregon, E., and Flett, R. (2013). The feasibility of using nature-based settings for physical activity programming: views from urban youth and program providers. American journal of health education. 44 (1932) 324-334
Mcpherson, M. (2009). An evaluation of a classroom science intervention designed to extend the bicycle helmet safety message. American journal of health education. 40(2). 71-79