The effect of education given to primary school students according to the instructor and peer education model on the students' knowledge level and behavior towards preventing school accidents

This research was conducted in a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest design with two intervention groups, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the "My Accident-Free School Life" training program given to 4th grade primary school students using instructor training and peer education methods. The sample of the research consisted of 305 students studying in two different primary schools selected by random stratification sampling method between September and November 2023. One of the schools represents the instructor training group and the other represents the peer education group. The data of the study were collected with the Child Information and Accident History Form and the Knowledge and Behavior Scales for Safety Measures in School Accidents. Number, percentage, mean, median, Kruskal Wallis-H, Mann-Whitney U, Pearson-χ2, Wilcoxon (Z), Spearman correlation tests were used to evaluate the data. It has been determined that approximately half of the students have had a school accident before, and that school accidents most often occur in the schoolyard, during recess, and due to the carelessness of their friends. After the "My Accident-Free School Life" training given to the students, a statistically significant increase was detected in the post-test mean scores obtained from the scales in both groups compared to the pre-test mean scores (p <0.05). This result shows the effectiveness of the "My Accident-Free School Life" training program, which is given through instructor training and peer education methods. In line with these results, it is recommended to expand the "My Accident-Free School Life" education program and use the peer education method in different educational studies to be applied to children.