A poison education program for primary school.

A program with which to teach children in grades 1 and 2 to identify poisons and hazard symbols, to learn where poisons should be stored and to recognize a poisoning and contact a poison control center in the event of a poisoning was developed. Each objective was taught in one 30-minute lesson by the children's school teachers. Evaluation of the approximately 400 children who received the program by pre- and post-tests demonstrated that they learned to identify poisons, to recognize hazard symbols and the telephone number of the local poison control center. The children were also asked to identify their source of knowledge about poisons and cited parents, television and school as their most important sources.