Buckle Your Brain The mission of Buckle Your Brain is to help prevent brain and spinal cord injuries by educating the youth of our community about the critical functions of the brain and spinal cord, and by reinforcing helmet use and other good safety behaviors.

The Buckle Your Brain Program is presented by Injury Prevention Specialists who are dedicated to making people aware of the dire consequences that could occur when safety helmets are not worn. The program targets children from Kindergarten through grade five and addresses bicycle safety, proper helmet utilization, and the critical functions of the brain and spinal cord. The 60-minute educational presentation stresses the importance of wearing a safety helmet to protect the brain and ultimately save a LIFE. After a brief anatomy lesson, participants view a bicycle safety video. This is followed by a high energy interactive quiz which covers the rules of safe bike riding.

To reinforce the importance of wearing a helmet to protect the brain, educators use a watermelon to demonstrate to the students the risks of not wearing a helmet. The watermelon is dropped, both with and without a helmet. The helmeted melon is not damaged while the un-helmeted melon explodes, demonstrating the injuries they could sustain.

 

At the end of the presentation, each child is custom fitted with a bike helmet and read their “safety rights,” promising to wear their helmet to protect their brain. The Buckle Your Brain program distributes thousands of free helmets each year at school assemblies and community events. 

For more information or to schedule a Buckle Your Brain program in your school, please contact Mary Kunz at mary.kunz@ascension.org or call 989.497.3075