Disaster education / Junior high school students take initiative, learn responsibility

Japón/Marzo de 2017/Fuente: The Japan News

RESUMEN: El distrito de Ogi en Noto, Prefectura de Ishikawa, es conocido por el calamar fresco. En este pequeño y envejecido distrito con una población de alrededor de 2.400, los estudiantes de secundaria están trabajando en actividades relacionadas con la gestión de desastres. Una «sesión de manejo de desastres» se llevó a cabo en la escuela secundaria Ogi de la ciudad el 21 de febrero. Cuarenta y seis estudiantes están matriculados en la escuela, que se encuentra en una colina de 42 metros de altura cerca de un puerto. Los estudiantes, especialmente aquellos en su tercer año, revisaron las actividades de manejo de desastres en las que participaron durante el año académico 2016. Las actividades de manejo de desastres de la escuela comenzaron después de que la Costa de Sanriku, que es geográficamente similar a la costa del distrito de Ogi en que tiene embocaduras en forma de embudo llamado ria, fue severamente afectada por el Gran Terremoto del Este de Japón del 2011. Si un terremoto ocurre en alta mar, un tsunami de unos 10 metros de altura podría alcanzar el distrito en unos nueve minutos, y muchas casas se concentran en áreas a menos de 10 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Dado que muchos adultos trabajan fuera del distrito durante el día, los estudiantes de secundaria juegan un papel importante en la gestión de desastres.

The Ogi district in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, is known for fresh squid. In this small, aging district with a population of around 2,400, junior high school students are working on activities related to disaster management.

A “disaster management session” was held at the town-run Ogi Junior High School on Feb. 21. Forty-six students are enrolled in the school, which stands on a 42-meter-high hill near a port. Students, especially those in their third year, reviewed disaster management activities they were engaged in during the 2016 academic year.

The school’s disaster management activities began after the Sanriku Coast, which is geographically similar to the coast of the Ogi district in that it has funnel-shaped inlets called ria, was severely hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. If an earthquake occurs offshore, a tsunami around 10 meters high could reach the district in around nine minutes, and many homes there are concentrated in areas less than 10 meters above sea level. Since many adults work outside the district during the day, junior high school students play an important role in disaster management.

“Ogi will be in danger if things remain unchanged. Let’s do what we can do.” It was like fumbling in the dark, but they began by creating hazard maps of areas tsunami would potentially affect, then evacuation routes. During interviews the students conducted on 150 households in summer, many elderly people said things like, “Even if a tsunami comes, I won’t bother to run away.” Wanting these people to do their best to evacuate, the students held a tsunami seminar and distributed DVDs they had made that explain evacuation routes.

In case the school becomes an evacuation center, the students learned about evacuation center management and held Ogi’s first-ever disaster management drill. The drill is now established with several hundred people participating every year. The students have also created a card game and “disaster management calisthenics” for people to learn about disaster management in fun ways. They are used for interacting with elementary school students and elderly people. The students have been engaged in these activities as part of their physical education, home economics and ethics study classes.

Osamu Kitano, 72, chief of the Ogi district recalled, “Seeing these junior high school students working for the district made other residents feel like learning with them.”

A change was also seen in the students. Previously quiet students became proactive, and an increasing number of them began naturally reaching out to the elderly people during the drills. Third-year student Naoki Sakaguchi, 15, recalled: “The elderly people told me, ‘You’re really dependable. Thank you.’ That motivated me to do my best for the community.”

Wakako Daiku, 60, principal of the school, said: “The gratitude expressed by local people gave the students joy, motivation and pride. It also helped increase the sense of self-affirmation [among the students].” There were academic changes as well, with national aptitude test scores rising since the 2011 academic year.

The students review their activities every year. This academic year, they held the first nighttime evacuation drill, which led to the installation of emergency guidance lights that turn on automatically when it is dark.

In February’s disaster management session, soon-to-graduate third-year students passed the torch to their second-year schoolmates. Second-year student Ayumi Sakaguchi, 14, said enthusiastically, “I want to learn how to protect this district from things other than tsunami and earthquakes, too.

Fuente: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003593267