From Fairy Tales to Real-Life Safety - An Educational Drama-Based Intervention for Children's Self-Protection Skills

Oct 15, 2026

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Evaluates an educational drama-based intervention to strengthen children’s safety awareness and self-protection skills by using classic fairy tales as experiential learning stimuli. Tales featuring protagonists ensnared by poor self-protection choices (Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White) enabled risk analysis and safer alternatives through dramatic play and role reversal. Study participants were 79 third-grade students from Northern Greece, with questionnaires for safety knowledge and realistic social experiments for behavioral responses. Results showed significant improvement and sustained resistance to deceptive lures after a three-year follow-up, alongside conceptual shifts toward recognizing danger from friendly-looking individuals.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

International Journal of Education & the Arts [http://www.ijea.org/ ISSN:](http://www.ijea.org/ ISSN:) 1529-8094 Volume 27 Number 4 January 15, 2026 From Fairy Tales to Real-Life Safety: An Educational Drama-Based Intervention for Children's Self-Protection Skills Paraskevi Giagazoglou Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Athanasia Dampa Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Argiris Alexiadis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Antonis Lenakakis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Dimitra Dimitropoulou Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Kostas Magos University of Thessaly, Greece Citation: Giagazoglou, P., Dampa, A., Alexiadis, A., Lenakakis, A., Dimitropoulou, D., & Magos, K. (2026). From fairy tales to real-life safety: An educational dramabased intervention for children's self-protection skills. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 27(4). [http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea27n4](http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea27n4) Abstract This study evaluates an educational drama-based intervention that improves children's safety awareness and self-protection skills, using classic fairy tales as the basis for experiential learning activities. Each selected tale (Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White) featured a protagonist who became entangled in a dangerous situation due to poor self-protection choices, allowing children to analyze risks and explore safer alternatives through dramatic play and role reversal. The study included 79 third-grade students from a school in Northern Greece, divided into an intervention group (N=40) and a control group (N=39) . Children's safety knowledge was assessed using questionnaires, while realistic social experiments measured their actual behavioral responses before and after the intervention. Additionally, the qualitative analysis examined children's perceptions of a "bad" or dangerous person through their written descriptions. Results showed significant improvements in the intervention group, both in their theoretical knowledge and reallife application of self-protection skills. Initially, nearly 90% of children in both groups followed a stranger offering a tempting reward. However, after the intervention, the majority of children in the experimental group resisted deceptive lures, and this effect was sustained in a three-year follow-up assessment. Furthermore, children’s conceptualizations of danger evolved, shifting from a reliance on external appearance to an awareness that threats can come from individuals who appear friendly and trustworthy. These findings underscore the longterm impact of experiential learning in self-protection education. Through engaging, interactive experiences, children gained practical self-protection skills with lasting impact, highlighting the effectiveness of experiential learning in early safety education. Introduction Children face numerous threats, including stranger luring and social manipulation, which can lead to abduction or exploitation (Miltenberger et al., 2015). According to AMBER Alert Europe, approximately 300,000 children go missing annually—one every two minutes (Missing Children Europe, 2020) . While stranger abductions are statistically rare, research highlights a critical vulnerability: 75%–90% of young children willingly follow a stranger when lured with an enticing offer, such as a toy or candy (Goldfarb et al., 2008; Li et al., 2020; Sanchez & Miltenberger, 2015) . A recent study conducted in Greece reported similarly alarming findings (Dampa & Giagazoglou, 2023), emphasizing the urgent need for structured self-protection education to help children recognize potential dangers, avoid risky situations, and promptly inform a trusted adult. Despite the severity of this issue, most prevention programs rely on theoretical instruction, such as videos, discussions, or questionnaires, rather than real-life application (Miltenberger et al., 2009) . However, st

FAQs

How does the intervention use fairy tales to teach self-protection?

Selected fairy tales depict protagonists facing dangerous situations due to poor choices. Children analyze risks and explore safer alternatives through dramatic play and role reversal.

How were children's safety knowledge and behaviors measured?

Safety knowledge was assessed with questionnaires, while realistic social experiments measured actual behavioral responses before and after the intervention.

What changes were observed after the intervention and follow-up?

Children in the intervention group showed significant gains in theoretical knowledge and real-life application. The majority resisted deceptive lures after the intervention, and the effect persisted in a three-year follow-up.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Noah