Citation

Spicer RS, Young XJ, Sheppard MA, Olson LM, Miller TR. Am. J. Health Educ. 2003; 34(5).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Academic achievement and high test scores are not the only indicators of a successful school. A good school is also a safe school. Unfortunately, every year in the United States, approximately 3.7 million students suffer an injury at school severe enough to require medical attention or to limit activity. Most of the injuries are preventable. Data can be extremely effective in convincing school decision makers to take action to prevent injuries. Several state and local school systems in the United States have used either ongoing surveillance systems or a one time data collection effort to describe and highlight the school injury problem, leading to the design and evaluation of injury prevention programs. This article provides examples of some of these school-related injury surveillance efforts. It illustrates how health educators can make a difference by getting involved in the creation of surveillance systems and using the generated data to make a convincing argument for school injury prevention. By forming partnerships and developing prevention programs based on local data, a health educator can lead the way to safe schools. (Contains 1 table.)

Language: en