December Monthly Observances

National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month

At any given time, thousands of Americans are driving while impaired, risking their own and innocent others’ lives. Irresponsible behavior intensifies during the December holiday season, providing teachable moments for the physical educator. Although most children in America live within walking distance of their schools, only a minority travels to and from school by walking or bicycling. While there are many valid concerns that precipitate driving children to school or having them take the bus, school faculty and administrators can highlight this month as an opportunity to walk to school. In some communities, parent volunteers are stationed on heavily trafficked street corners to make safer walking environments for students. Incentives to walking students reinforce them for choosing physical activity. At the same time, in-school activities can be presented that introduce students to the sensation of impairment and its consequences. For example, in the game Sea Crossing, dozens of hot spots are randomly scattered about a large square area. These hot spots represent stinging jellyfish. A student is blindfolded and spun around 2-3 times by a partner to simulate impairment. The student, now with two affected senses (sight and balance) must cross the sea without getting stung by a jellyfish…relying on his or her partner’s verbal cues to avoid getting stung. In a debriefing, link the activity to the scenario of grown-ups driving on crowded highways trying to avoid collisions with their eyes closed and feeling dizzy.

Safe Toys and Gifts Month

With Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and other holidays, December is a month filled with presents. Collaborating with the classroom or language arts instructor, physical educators can try some of these activities: (1) Students make a wish list of 10 toys related to physical activity and identify safety concerns for each (e.g., a new bike should be ridden with a helmet and one’s tiptoes should touch the ground when straddling one’s bike); (2) in PE, for each activity, the instructor turns the safety cues of drill practice, activity, or game play over to students and can use the following questioning sequence: What is one safety concern? Why? What can you do individually to increase your own and the group’s safety?