Students’ Perception of Water Safety Education: A Case Study in Selangor, Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57266/ijssr.v5i1.264Keywords:
water safety , education, drowning, schools, childrenAbstract
The safety of children near water is crucial to avoid drowning, a major cause of death among children worldwide. Drowning incidents are a significant issue in Malaysia, especially among young people. The greatest obstacle to the development of policy for water safety among school children is lack of awareness or knowledge of water safety. This study represents an attempt to measure attitudes towards waters safety and risk of drowning in the District of Gombak in Malaysia. Given the urgency of the matter, immediate attention and action are required. Therefore, this paper seeks to highlight the pressing nature of water safety concerns among school children and assess whether implementing a water safety education program can substantially enhance knowledge levels, thus reducing drowning incidents among children. Yet, drowning in Malaysia still doesn't get enough attention. The sample of the study was 502 school children from a school in the district in Selangor. Purposive sampling was selected. The major findings that emerged were as below: a) the respondents prefer to swim alone. b) They are less favor in of wearing life jackets. c) They prefer to swim without having adults around them. d) They are prone to swim without learning to swim. e) No association between students’ attitudes towards water safety and sex. The urgency of this research is to address water safety issues among school children.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention (AAP). (2010). Policy statement: Prevention of drowning. Pediatrics: 126(1), 178-185.
Brenner, R.A., Taneja, G.S., Haynie, D.L., Trumble, A.C., Qian, C., Klinger, R.M., & Klebanoff, M.A. (2009). Association between swimming lessons and drowning in childhood: A case-control study. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 163(3), 203-210
Brenner, R.A., Trumble, A.C., Smith, G.S., Kessler, E.P., & Overpeck, M.D. (2001). Where children drown, United States, 1995. Pediatrics, 108(1), 85-89
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008). Water-related injuries: fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/WaterSafety/waterinjuries-factsheet.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010a). Ten leading causes of death and injury (charts): 2005 and 2006. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/LeadingCauses.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2010b). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [database]. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
Danielle H. Taylor, Richard C. Franklin and Amy E. Peden (2020). Aquatic Competencies and Drowning Prevention in Children 2–4 Years: A Systematic Review. Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-576X/6/2/31
Fire & Rescue Deparment: Public awareness on water safety still low, New Straits Times, February 4, 2023
Irwin, C.C., Irwin, R.L., Ryan, T.D., & Drayer, J. (2009). Urban minority youth swimming (in)ability in the United States and associated demographic characteristics: toward a drowning prevention plan. Injury Prevention, 15, 234- 239.
Jonathan P. Guevarra, Richard C. Franklin and Amy E. Peden (2021). International Journal
Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 381. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020381
Justine E. Leavy, Gemma Crawford, Francene Leaversuch, Lauren Nimmo, Kahlia McCausland, and Jonine Jancey (2015). A Review of Drowning Prevention Interventions for Children and Young People in High, Low and Middle Income Countries. Journal Community Health (2016) 41:424–44
Langendorfer, Stephen J. Ph.D.; Moran, Kevin Ph.D.; and Stallman, Robert Keig Ph.D. (2018) Guiding Principles: Applying Water Competence to Drowning Prevention, International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education: Vol. 11: No. 2, Article 22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.11.02.22
Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ijare/vol11/iss2/22
Mark Woods, William Koon, Robert W. Brander (2021). Identifying risk factors and implications for beach drowning prevention amongst an Australian multicultural community. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal
Mohamed Basyir, October 25, 2017, WASC to Inculcate Safety, Reduce Drowning Cases, New Straits Times
Noor Hamzani Farizan, Rosnah Sutan, Kulanthayan KC Mani (2020). Will They Swim or Sink? Parental Perception of Water Safety Among Their Children. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences
Noor Hamzani F, Sutan R, Mani KK. Development and Validation of a Survey Instrument on Drowning Prevention and Water Safety among Parents of Primary School Children. J Clin Diagnostic Res. 2019;13(5):1–6
Pallant, J. (2013). SPSS Survival manual. McGraw Hill.5th. ed
Saluja, G., Brenner, R.A., Trumble, A.C., Smith, G.S., Schroeder, T., & Cox, C. (2006). Swimming pool drownings among U.S. residents aged 5-24 years: Understanding racial/ethnic disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 96(4), 728-733
Tevfik Turgut, Metin Yaman, and Adnan Turgut (2015). Educating Children on Water Safety for Drowning Prevention. Soc Indic Res (2016) 129:787–801 DOI 10.1007/s11205-015-1109-0
Tharanya Arumugam , December 5, 2021, Educate kids on water safety, New Straits Times
Drowning, World Health Organization, April 27, 2021 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drowning
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Aziyah Yusoff, Nor Addha Ibrahim, Aliza Ali, Siti Nor Shaadah Rahmat, Siti A'ida Joned, Azimah Yusoff
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
