Disaster Preparation 101

I read a really interesting article today so I thought I’d talk about it! It’s about how NGOs and the United Nations are using “fun” to teach children about disaster prevention. Check it out here:

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97558/Games-cartoons-boost-youth-disaster-preparation

I guess I’d never thought about how children are more affected by disasters than adults, but it makes intuitive sense. I do wish the article explained why youth are more affected though. I also wish it had got into detail about the reasons why the Asia-Pacific regions is very disaster prone… which is something I have a bit of background in thanks to a course I took about natural disasters. The Asia-Pacific region is a perfect storm (no pun intended!) for disasters of every variety, but floods especially. The entire region is very close to sea level and is very flat, making it very easy for hurricanes and typhoons to flood huge areas. There’s also the issue of major cities developing close to the coast and with no consideration of floods… but that’s a whole other rant I could go on.

What I like about this article is it highlights how important disaster preparation is, but also how easy it is to do. Simple games, cartoons and art can help youth prepare for disasters… that’s pretty amazing! Here's an example of a cartoon for disaster prevention in Thailand

I think these disaster preparedness strategies work so well because they approach learning in a fun and participative way. Kids aren’t board, sitting in a room listening to someone tell them what to do in a flood. Games are engaging, fun and get the message of disaster preparedness across in a realistic way. The strategies let youth socialize, discuss the issues with their friends and family, and empowers them. These children don’t want to feel like disaster victims, they want to help their communities in disaster situations. These approaches to disaster preparation give them the opportunity to do just that.

Another important point that this article makes is that disaster education shouldn’t be exclusively in schools, because the children who aren’t in school need to be reached too. These children often live in overcrowded slums which are susceptible to all kinds of disasters, so getting to them is even more critical. What other fun teaching strategies can you think of, and what are your thoughts on these strategies in general?