About the Make it Click Program - A Car Safety Program for Tweens
Make-it-Click Program Description
The Make-it-Click Initiative is an empirically-supported program targeting increased safety restraint use and back-seat use among 8- to 12-year-old children (tweens). Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children. Less than half of tweens involved in crashes wear seatbelts, and 73% sit in the front seat when they are the sole passengers. Funded by the Virginia Highway Safety Office and created by Dr. Kelli England Will and her team at Eastern Virginia Medical School, the program’s design includes involvement of teachers, school staff, and after school organizations to implement components in ways that do not infringe upon academic time. Interventions include: (a) competition among classes to achieve a high rate of students buckled in the back; (b) a creativity contest with entries illustrating a car safety theme; (c) a series of parent education flyers; (d) safety-themed assignments that support state standards of learning objectives; (e) safety-themed plays and activities; and (f) educational presentations. Program components are further detailed below, and were originally designed to be implemented on a rolling basis (1-2 per month) over the course of a school year. However, the program may be adapted to suit your needs. Results indicate significant improvements in safety behaviors, particularly regarding observed safety belt use. Tweens in the intervention schools were 3 times more likely to wear their safety belts at follow-up than tweens in the control schools.
Belted in the Back Seat Challenge
This is an exciting competition in which groups compete to achieve the highest rate of children buckled up and sitting in the back seat. Children help promote the program and collect the data. Materials include detailed instructions for the challenge, a flyer, and a datasheet used for safety belt observations.
Buckie Buckle Play
This is a fun activity that can involve a large group of tweens. The play increases children’s knowledge and use of seatbelts and raises awareness of car safety issues among the audience. The play can be performed during class time or as an after-school event. Materials include a script, a costume checklist, and logistical information for performing the play.
Classroom Activities (Expanded!)
Several homework assignments are provided. Each is packaged with teacher lesson notes and tips for how the assignment can fulfill state standards of learning for various subjects.
Creativity Contest
This activity encourages children to develop creative materials illustrating the theme: “How do I stay safe in a car?” Entries can be hung throughout the school to continually reinforce the program’s message. A flyer used to promote the contest and recruit participants is included.
Newsletter Sample
Use of teacher newsletters are encouraged and can be distributed periodically to all teachers to describe the program, notify of upcoming plans, and share accomplishments and results of interventions. A sample teacher newsletter is included.
Parent Flyers / Posters
This series of flyers/posters targeting parents was developed based on feedback garnered from tween focus groups. Each of the five flyers communicates (quickly) a method or reason for encouraging tweens to sit in the back seat and buckle up. Several of the parent flyers are available depicting White, Black, and Hispanic individuals.
Hold on to the one you love - Color
Lead by Example - Black and White
Tell them to sit in the back - Black and White
Tell them to sit in the back - Color
Educational Presentation
This ready-made educational presentation targets adults and can be used to inform school, community, and parent groups about keeping 8-12 year-old children safe in the car.
Script for Radio Spot
This 60-second radio script can be used as a public service announcement in the community, or students can rehearse lines and read it over the loud-speaker at school or other events.
Effectiveness of the Program
Read about the remarkable effects of the Make-it-Click program, which was evaluated in four elementary schools in an urban school district in southeastern Virginia. This 2-page overview summarizes the evaluation study, which found significant increases in safety belt use at intervention schools. Students in intervention schools were 3.3 times more likely to wear their safety belts at follow-up compared to those in control schools, despite no difference among the schools at baseline.
MATERIALS ARE PUBLIC DOMAIN; FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL, NONPROFIT USE
PROPER CITATION IS APPRECIATED
For additional information or materials, please contact Kelli England Will, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, Williams Hall, 855 West Brambleton Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia, 23510-1001; Phone: 757-668-6449; FAX: 757-668-6475; Email: willke@evms.edu or umakeitclick@evms.edu
This program was supported by a series of federal 402 grants (Numbers OP-2008-58238-3175; OP-2009-59178-3481; RS-2010-50117-3737; K2-2011-51295-4237) from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the Virginia Highway Safety Office. Principal Investigator: Kelli England Will, Ph.D.; Program Coordinator: Krystall Dunaway, Ph.D.; Research Associate: Edward Lorek, M.S.; Research Assistant: Melissa Minnick, B.S. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, or Virginia Highway Safety Office.