Road safety is an important issue for students at Key Stage 4 (KS4) and upwards. Young people aged 15/16 years are moving away from parental control, making choices about life after GCSE’s and are more ‘in control’ of their lives. Socialising is important and there is increasing peer group pressure. Risk taking and thrill seeking play a bigger part in their lives and in some cases, so does exposure to criminality. At 15 years students are beginning to think about other forms of transport, like mopeds and scooters. They may have started to think about driving and may have friends who are able to drive.They are vulnerable on the roads and will take risks. . When children travel by car the risk of death or serious injury is highest when they are aged 14 or 15 years. . A girl of 15 is almost 3 times as likely to be killed or seriously injured in a car than a girl of 13. . Over 50% of the 15 year olds killed or seriously injured in cars are being driven by drivers under the age of 21. It is likely that students will have received some road safety education at primary school, but this is often learning about rules and may not have involved students assessing risk and considering the consequences of their actions. By including road safety in the curriculum for KS4 and above, there is an opportunity for students to develop the skills necessary to make sensible, safe choices and enhance their personal development and safety. However road safety is not specifically included in the curriculum and although, as a topic, it readily fits with Citizenship, it often becomes squeezed out by more ‘popular’ topics, like drugs and sexual health. As a non-examinable subject, the time afforded for Citizenship studies at KS4 and above can be extremely constrained within the timetable. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting