Supervision Matters! Put the Pencils Away or Make the Crayons Stay to Promote a Safe Environment for Preschool Children in the Classroom and at Home. A View from Preschool Parents and Guardians

In preschool classrooms, where young children require the most protection, teachers, parents, and guardians play an important role in ensuring that young children are safe from injury and accident both at home and in the classroom. This study aimed to assess the dangers of using sharpened pencils and other sharp writing materials for preschoolers, both at home and in school. Twenty parents from a selected child development center comprised the research sample. Through purposively sampled selection, twenty parents of preschool-aged children who shared their views and observations regarding the possible dangers in connection to injury or accident from sharp writing materials or sharpened pencils during their children's writing activities at home and in school were chosen as participants using the qualitative approach with an exploratory research design. In-depth interviews were used as part of the data collection process. Throughout its conduct, the study followed ethical guidelines. To assess the validity of the qualitative data, the following trustworthiness criteria were used: credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability. According to the study, preschoolers can be injured by sharp writing instruments such as pencils, but crayons are safe in the following situations: when adults do not have enough time to provide close supervision; when preschoolers occasionally fight or throw tantrums; when children are still careless; and when there is insufficient staff or adults. Even if accidents and injuries are common, they can always be avoided if the appropriate safety precautions are taken in the specific situation and timely and relevant safety measures are always practiced in the current or changing environment or in the continuous development of safety guidelines for the current environment, ensuring that the safety protocol is always precise to the present situation or environment.

Injury And Accident, Sharp Writing Materials, Exploratory Research, Child Center

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