Sharks, Cliffs and Jagged Rocks: Children′s Concepts of Risk

Describes initial results from a study by researchers at the Health Education Unit at the University of Southampton to find out what children aged 4 to 13 understand by “risk” and “risky behaviour”. Suggests that the concept of risk as something that is positive or exciting first appears at the age of about nine – the same time at which children are perhaps most vulnerable to peer pressure and are most likely to experience their first encounters with alcohol, cigarettes and other harmful substances. Concludes that health educators need to take risk into account through practical classroom activities at the same time as imparting health knowledge and skills.