Week 3 :: Research that Benefits Children and Families :: Uplifting Stories

This week I was asked to:
Share a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families: Perhaps you can provide real-life examples of research benefits to children and/or families; maybe you are familiar with stories of people who have been positively affected by research; or you came across a published research article concerning children or families which you find exciting and would like to share with your colleagues.

The school I work for often has a research company come in and they use our students to test the newest designs of safety tabs for medications. The test the bubble type pill holders...the kind that your allergy pills come in where you have to pull the corner or push the pill out the backside. The company has the children test their new designs at least once a month. All the kids have to do is play with the empty pill tabs until they either succeed in opening them or get frustrated and move on to another one. The kids have fun and enjoy trying to open the packages. They are never in any danger and a teacher is always in the office with the children so they are not left alone with the researcher. When the trials are over, the children get a sticker for being a helper and they go back to class. The school benefits from the research because the company gives gift cards for school supplies.

The children benefit by being able to develop their fine motor and problem-solving skills. Society benefits from this research because the feedback helps the companies create better child-resistant packaging for medications. The families whose children participate in the study get a $10 gift card to Target which makes the children and the families very happy. All in all this research has been nothing but positive for the children and families involved.