Analysis of School Commuting Safety and Accident Trend by School Level: Text Network Analysis and Topic Modeling

Abstract

In this study, the risk factors that lead to accidents when students commute to and from school was analyzed and compared using raw DATA, a collection of data notified by various levels of schools in Seoul between 2016 and 2021. A text-mining technique was employed for this analysis. The results suggest that kindergarteners experience accidents most often on their way home. The physical risk factors that cause accidents include stairs and vehicles which primarily damage the head and face. Keywords such as returning home, preparing to go home, and commuting to school-stairs were extracted in the text analysis. Similarly, elementary school students also experience accidents when returning home. Physical risk factors, such as stairs, are the primary cause of damage to the front teeth and forehead. Keywords such as returning home-stairs, returning home-playground, and returning home after school were identified. Middle school students also experience accidents, on their way home, and significant physical risk factors include stairs and bicycles, which cause injuries to the ankles, knees, ligaments, and legs. Keywords such as commuting to school-bicycle and returning home-play ground-friend-soccer were retrieved through text mining. High school students experience accidents on their way to school. Major physical risk factors, such as stairs, bicycles, and buses, have been found to cause damage to the ankles and knees. The keywords bicycle-commuting to school, bicycle-face, bicycle-steep downhill, and buses-ankle were detected. This study attempted to analyze the factors that lead to accidents when different grades of students commute to and from school to understand the characteristics of safety accidents at different school levels and to provide a policy direction for data-based safety education and safety management measures.