Empowering Adolescent Boys – Peer Education and Road Safety in Rural Maharashtra
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Date
2025-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wolters Kluwer – Medknow
Abstract
Road accidents are a leading cause of death, morbidity, and economic burden among young individuals. This study aims to evaluate how effective a peer education program is in improving road safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among adolescent boys aged 16–19 from two villages. In Village “A,” 110 boys completed a baseline survey, and 10 were chosen as peer educators to provide the intervention. Village “B” served as the control group, receiving traditional road safety education. After 6 months, all participants took a post-test survey. The intervention group showed a significant increase in road safety knowledge compared to the control group (P < 0.0001), but there was no significant difference in attitudes (P = 0.34) or practices (P = 0.72). The study indicates that peer education can effectively enhance road safety knowledge, but further research is needed to see if it leads to lasting behavioural changes.
Description
Keywords
Adolescent, male, peer influence, traffic accidents
Citation
Shinde SR, Padhye SA, Sudarson NG, Lavangare SR, Singh VS. Empowering Adolescent Boys – Peer Education and Road Safety in Rural Maharashtra. Indian Journal of Public Health. 2025 Jun; 69(2): 214-217