Teaching Self‐protection to Children Using Television Techniques

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of a videotape training program with other methods of teaching children self-protection to prevent child abduction. Subjects were kindergarten and first-grade students. Four experimental conditions were presented: videotape with behavior rehearsal, videotape only, a standard safety program, and no training. Acquisition of self-protective behaviors was measured at posttraining and follow-up by having confederate adults entice the children near their schools and homes. Results revealed that the videotape program with behavior rehearsal was highly effective in teaching children safe responses to potential abductors. The standard safety program was effective with fewer than half of the children. Three fourths of the children who received no training immediately agreed to go with the confederate suspects. The videotape program can be easily used with groups of young children in a classroom setting.

A Preliminary Evaluation of Two Behavioral Skills Training Procedures for Teaching Abduction‐prevention Skills to Schoolchildren

“…Only a handful of studies has investigated group training of abduction-prevention skills (Carroll-Rowan & Miltenberger, 1994;OlsenWoods et al, 1998;Poche et al, 1988). These studies have demonstrated that there is a need to make group BST more effective.…”

Teaching Safety Skills to Children: Prevention of Firearm Injury as an Exemplar of Best Practice in Assessment, Training, and Generalization of Safety Skills

“…Escaping the situation means putting physical distance between the child and the threat, most often by running away. In most safety threat situations, an immediate response is critical because the longer the child is exposed to the threat without taking action, the more likely the child will be harmed (e.g., Poche, Yoder, & Miltenberger, 1988). For example, when finding a firearm, the child escapes from the situation by running to a parent or other adult (e.g., teacher, babysitter).…”

“…In situ assessments have been shown to be useful for evaluating safety skills in response to other safety threats, including abduction and sexual abuse lures (e.g., Johnson et al, 2005;Poche et al, 1988). The safety skills exhibited by children during these assessments are typically scored numerically.…”

“…Research has shown that a behavioral skills training (BST) approach is superior to an informational approach for teaching various safety skills to children (e.g., Gatheridge et al, 2004;Poche et al, 1988;Wurtele, Saslawsky, Miller, Marrs, & Britcher, 1986). In BST, children first receive instructions and modeling.…”

Effects of Video Modelling on Training and Generalisation of Social Initiation and Reciprocal Play by Children With Autism

“…First, the function of video modelling was isolated from other methods in as natural an environment as possible (e.g., Morgan & Salzberg, 1992). Second, the videotape format used in this study obtained all the advantages of convenience, standardisation, and efficiency that may be difficult to achieve with in vivo formats (Poche, Yoder, & Miltenberger, 1988). Third, not only were short video clips shown to be effective (i.e., 35 secs), but also these video presentations resulted in rapid changes in behaviour, that required no further prompts (in terms of video presentations) in subsequent assessments across other stimuli.…”