Extending Your Reach: 2. Into the Community
2Into the Community
Working in the Classroom and Within Organizations
There are advantages to working in the classroom and within organizations. Kids expect to learn in the classroom, whether in person or online. In the classroom there is peer to peer influence. Kids sit with each other; they interact both in person and potentially online. The educators/teachers can be role models. They can encourage kids to explore online, and they can reinforce what they learn. In the classroom the message can be repeated, used as a reminder to think about loud sounds and hearing protection in the context of other learning.
If the kids are gathered within other organizational structures, there may be similar expectations; opportunities to learn and explore new things and the leaders are seen as role models. During group activities, the kids will have opportunities to apply their new knowledge and reinforce the messages. For instance, if students are engaged in the shooting sports through 4-H, or attending a concert with a youth group, then there will be opportunities to practice hearing protective strategies.
