This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Preliminary Examination of Fifth-Grade Students' Perceptions

James H. Price, PhD, MPH; Sharon M. Desmond, MS&Ed

Am J Dis Child. 1987;141(7):811-815.

Abstract
• We examined elementary students' beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge regarding the missing children issue. A 22-item questionnaire on missing children was distributed to a sample of 315 fifth-grade children in a large midwestern city. In ranking five concerns, 49% of the students ranked someone grabbing them as their primary concern. The students perceived themselves as susceptible to the problem of missing children and thought that it was a serious issue. Fifty-nine percent of the children were afraid to be friendly toward people they did not know, and 44% belived it was likely or highly likely that they would become missing children. The mass media was their leading source of information on missing children. Their level of knowledge regarding the issue was poor; the majority did not know who usually takes children, how many are taken, or what usually happens to missing children.

(AJDC 1987;141:811-815)

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Health Promotion and Human Performance, University of Toledo (Dr Price and Ms Desmond), and the W. W. Knight Family Practice Center, The Toledo Hospital (Ms Desmond). Dr Price is a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Nov 30, 1986.

Reprints not available.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?