Building Safe Minds: A Prospective Interventional Study on Trauma Prevention Education in Schools

Introduction: Trauma is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Common causes include road traffic accidents, falls from height, slipping on wet surfaces, and unsafe home environments. Simple preventive measures—such as wearing helmets and seatbelts, avoiding mobile use while walking or driving, installing railings, and adhering to speed limits—can drastically reduce these injuries. However, these are often neglected due to behavioral inertia.

School children are a highly receptive population and can be molded early with safety-conscious behaviors.1,2 Moreover, they can influence the safety practices of their families, making school-based education a powerful community tool. There are no studies from India or any other developing countries regarding this.

Objectives:

Primary Objective

·      To assess the effectiveness of a structured educational session on improving knowledge about trauma prevention among school students.

Secondary Objectives

·      To determine the retention of knowledge about trauma prevention after 3 months.

·      To assess whether the intervention indirectly influenced the safety-related behaviors of students’ parents or households.

·      To determine the acceptability and perceived usefulness of the session among students and teachers.

·      To explore the feasibility of integrating trauma prevention education into the existing school curriculum.