SMARTRISK No Regrets is a peer leadership program that offers a permanent home in high schools for smart risk messages. Built on research that points to the power of peers in young people’s lives, SMARTRISK No Regrets trains youth leaders and their staff advisers to implement injury prevention activities and events in their schools. These youth-led activities and events are designed to influence the attitudes and risk-taking behaviour of the students in each school related to risk activities, such as driving, biking, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and partying.

At a central location for a cluster of schools, SMARTRISK staff train student leaders and their staff advisers in injury prevention, leadership, program planning and event planning, team building and media relations skills. After training, youth leaders and staff advisers return to their schools and recruit additional team members to help them implement injury prevention activities and campaigns throughout the year. Many of these are pre-packaged activities provided by SMARTRISK that have been tested and found effective in other schools. Others are activities and campaigns students come up with themselves. SMARTRISK also provides prizes and incentives to encourage students to take part. All activities speak to at least one of the smart risk messages: Buckle Up, Look First, Wear the Gear, Get Trained and Drive Sober.

The following are examples of activities SMARTRISK No Regrets teams have initiated:

• Organized a “Get Caught” campaign with local police officers to check that drivers and passengers were all wearing seatbelts as they left the school parking lot. Those who were wearing seatbelts received positive reinforcement in the form of a box of Smarties. The message Buckle Up was promoted.
• Hosted a Wear the Gear dodgeball tournament. In order to participate, each team member had to play while wearing at least one piece of sporting equipment. The winning team was awarded with a game against the teachers.
• To promote the message Drive Sober, volunteers attempted to tricycle ride through a course while wearing goggles that simulate inebriation.

Expanding No Regrets

Begun as a pilot project in 2003, more than 100 schools have been trained in No Regrets across Canada, from B.C. through Yukon to Newfoundland and Labrador. To most efficiently extend our reach, SMARTRISK has begun moving part of our training online. The online program includes video training modules and pre-packaged injury prevention campaigns and activities that students can download and implement in their schools. There are also web resources dedicated to educating parents, empowering them to talk to their teens about risk and injury. SMARTRISK is using tools to communicate with students where they already congregate online – through such venues as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Made possible by funding from State Farm, the website at www.smartrisknoregrets.ca allows SMARTRISK staff, students and teachers to connect and share, not only by blogging and posting photos about their events but also promoting competitions and leadership opportunities, ultimately creating a more comprehensive support network to deliver the program in schools.

No Regrets works

Launched in 2003, SMARTRISK No Regrets was pilot-tested and evaluated in five Canadian high schools over two years. In all five participating schools, students showed significant gains in knowledge and changes in attitudes and behaviours in line with SMARTRISK injury prevention messages.

Throughout the expansion of the program, SMARTRISK has continued to evaluate the program. A recent evaluation found that students reported 17% fewer injuries requiring medical care following a single year’s exposure to the program’s messages.

Recognizing the value of the program, the Canadian Institute of Child Health in 2008 awarded SMARTRISK No Regrets its Health Promotion and Innovation Award of Excellence. The Institute was “particularly impressed by the incorporation of positive messaging and especially the quality of the peer- to-peer training and evaluation of the program.”

For more information, visit www.smartrisknoregrets.ca.