THE TUFTY CLUB ENQUIRY (4) AN INVESTIGATION OF THE OPINIONS OF HEAD TEACHERS, PLAYGROUP LEADERS AND ROAD SAFETY OFFICERS

POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO 386 HEAD TEACHERS OF PRIMARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS, 186 PLAYGROUP LEADERS AND 380 FULL-TIME ROAD SAFETY OFFICERS (RSOS). THE QUESTIONS WERE RELATED TO ROAD SAFETY IN GENERAL AND THE TUFTY CLUB IN PARTICULAR. AN ANALYSIS OF REPLIES SHOWS THAT ALMOST ALL THE RESPONDENTS THOUGHT CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT HOW TO CROSS ROADS BEFORE THEY REACH SIX YEARS OF AGE. THE MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS IN ALL THREE GROUPS THOUGHT THAT ANIMAL CHARACTERS SHOULD BE USED TO ILLUSTRATE ROAD SAFETY, AND MOST HEAD TEACHERS AND PLAYGROUP LEADERS THOUGHT STORIES WERE AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF TEACHING ROAD SAFETY. OF THE 90 PER CENT OF HEAD TEACHERS WHO HAS HEARD OF TUFTY, ONLY 10 PER CENT TAUGHT ANYTHING ABOUT TUFTY IN THEIR SCHOOLS. A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER PROPORTION OF PLAYGROUP LEADERS TAUGHT CHILDREN ABOUT TUFTY IN THEIR PLAYGROUP. NINETY PER CENT OF RSOS HAD TUFTY CLUBS IN THEIR AREAS. THE MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS HAD SEEN THE TELEVISION FILMS OF TUFTY AND SQUAWK, AND THOUGHT THAT CHILDREN WOULD LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT ROAD SAFETY FROM THEM. ALTHOUGH THE RESPONDENTS WHO HAD READ TUFTY BOOK 1 GAVE GENERALLY FAVOURABLE OPINIONS, THE BOOK COULD BE IMPROVED BY ATTENTION TO THE STYLE OF WRITING AND STANDARD OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)

  Wokingham, Berkshire  United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Firth, D E
• Publication Date: 1974

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 29 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Attitudes; Children; Driver education; Highway safety; Instructors; Interviewing; Pedestrian movement; Prevention; Printed publicity; Publicity; Questionnaires; Safety; School children; School patrols; Schools; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Child safety
• ITRD Terms: 1661: Accident prevention; 1757: Age; 2267: Attitude (psychol); 1758: Child; 1667: Crossing the road; 2284: Education; 9147: Interview; 8573: Publicity; 1665: Safety; 101: School
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00080896
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: No. SR 15 UC Series
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 6 1975 12:00AM