Teaching safety at summer camp: Evaluation of a water safety curriculum in an urban community setting

Objectives: The purpose of this project was to test a water safety curriculum in a low-income, urban youth summer camp setting. The curriculum is available to Safe Kids Coalitions across the country; however it has not previously been evaluated for effectiveness.

Methods: Participants were Pre-K - 3rd grade students. Children watched a video and received the curriculum in a classroom setting. Each child was given a pre-, post-, and retention exam to assess knowledge change. Mean test scores and mean number of rules participants could list were analyzed using paired student t tests. Only data from children who took all three exams (n=92) was analyzed.

Results: The participants were 45.3% male, 22.2% Hispanic, 72.2% African American, and 5.6% biracial. Children were divided into three groups: Pre-K/kindergarten, 1st / 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. Children in each of the groups received higher knowledge scores at the post-exam (P=0.04, P<0.0001, P<0.0001, respectively), with little decline in scores at the three-week retention exam. Children in both the 1st /2nd grade and 3rd grade groups were able to list more rules at the post-exam (P<0.0001, P<0.0001) and at the retention exam (P= 0.004, P<0.0001) compared to baseline; the number of rules listed fell slightly between the post-exam and retention exam.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that children possessed more knowledge of water safety after receiving this curriculum. Further evaluation of the curriculum's content and its impact on water safety beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are needed, as well as evaluation of additional risk areas and various settings.