Disaster Education Lessons from Japan - 2

It is important to understand why one school succeeded in evacuating children during the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET), where another school failed. The reasons could lie beyond pure school policy, in other areas such as school buildings or shelters constructed to withstand earthquakes but not tsunamis, parents picking their children up from school in spite of teacher’s warnings, and people getting stuck in traffic.

The ministry of education of Japan has conducted a survey to determine how students died and what types of evacuation plans were used [1]. It was found that 50.3% of the schools in the three most affected prefectures had evacuation plans, and most students died after being sent home. Some policy changes to school disaster plans afterwards include not sending students home with parents, or discussing with parents beforehand whether or not to take students home.

The survey also showed differences in student responses during the disaster. The results are that “among primary schools that had conducted evacuation drills, 11.4 percent said students panicked due to fear and anxiety (…) Among primary schools that had not conducted such drills, 28.6 percent said students panicked.” This means that performing drills at primary schools can lead to a decrease of panic of 60%, thus showing the important of drills even for young children.

Obviously, having an evacuation plan and practicing the plan regularly will prepare students for disasters. However, drills, evacuation plans, hazard maps and shelters are not enough to guarantee lived are saved. Looking at the example of the Kamaishi East School [2], the disaster plan was that teachers gather students to count them and afterwards evacuate together. The microphones at the school to instruct the students had become unusable due to power failure, but the students started to gather and evacuate by themselves. A neighboring elementary school had followed their own disaster plan and had evacuated all the students to the third floor of their building. After seeing the students from Kamaishi East School flee, they decided to follow them. Both of these school buildings were completely destroyed in the tsunami. Upon reaching a first and second evacuation site uphill, students fled higher both times, as the sites were judged to not be safe enough. The water reportedly stopped a few meter away from the second evacuation site.

This ability to apply flexible thinking and to judge the situation at hand is what saved their lives. While it is certainly beneficent to have disaster drills and plans, or to decide whether to send children home or not beforehand, it is not enough. Every disaster is different and the best way to be prepared for this is to be trained to think adaptively. An effective education policy treats children not as merely as a potentially vulnerable group of people that require protection and should be moved to safety, but instructs them and teaches them strategies to be more capable, self-reliant and protect themselves. The example of Kamaishi shows that children are perfectly capable of saving themselves if they are taught the necessary skills. This way, even if the situation is unexpected or the disaster plan, shelters or evacuation sites prove inadequate, children will have the sense of mind to make a good decision to act on behalf of their own protection.

Aside from lessons increasing self-reliance, other areas also require attention. It has become evident that a backup system of schools, teachers and administration can greatly assist response and recovery after a disaster. Backup lists available elsewhere with all the students and staff names, ages, home addresses and pictures could greatly assist in locating missing people and identifying victims. Emergency schools or substitute teachers could assist in recreating a sense of belonging and continuation of education after a disaster. If it is already known beforehand how to arrange these backup systems, a more speedy response and recovery is possible.

[1] Only 50% of schools were ready for tsunami, Yomiuri Shimbun, May 31 2012, Retrieved from http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120530005277.htm

[2] Students credit survival to disaster-preparedness drills, S. Kamiya, The Japan Times, 4 June 2011. Retrieved from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20110604f1.html