Characteristics of hazard and risk perception by primary school pupils during outdoor activities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of hazard and risk perception for outdoor activities by primary school pupils and their related factors. The subjects were 87 fourth-grade pupils and 90 sixth-grade pupils. Illustrations depicting two typical outdoor activities—canteen cooking and hiking—were prepared. The subjects were instructed to (1) find hazardous objects or point out any dangerous behavior in the illustrations (hazard perception), and (2) estimate how dangerous certain items were on a 10-cm scale (risk perception). A questionnaire to evaluate camp and play experience and self-evaluation of behavioral characteristics was conducted, and records of the pupils' visits to the nursing room because of injuries (most of them minor) were also collected. The characteristics of hazard and risk perception were also compared with those of outdoor activity instructors. The results were as follows: (1) Hazard perception did not differ much in quantity—but did differ in content—among the groups, and criteria of risk evaluation also differed between instructors and pupils. The pupils tended to underestimate potential risk to the body, but overestimated the risk of spreading fire even when the potential for injury were low and risk of indirect danger. (2) Experience showed a significant positive relationship to some of the perception indices among fourth-grade boys, but not among sixth-grade pupils and fourth-grade girls. (3) Hazard perception showed a significant positive relationship to the number of injuries recorded by the nursing room only among fourth-grade boys. These results suggest that it is important to educate pupils to give them a realistic concept of dangerous situations and to evaluate their potential risks.