池田小事件１０年 日頃の備えが子どもを守る

あの忌まわしい事件から、早１０年。
残されたご家族の苦しみはまだ続いている。
異例のスピードで処刑されても、亡くなった児童は戻らない。
（スラチャイ）

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jun. 10, 2011)
Daily efforts needed to protect children
池田小事件１０年　日頃の備えが子どもを守る（6月9日付・読売社説）

Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the murders at Ikeda Primary School, attached to Osaka Kyoiku University, in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on June 8, 2001.
　大阪教育大付属池田小学校の児童殺傷事件から８日で１０年がたった。

It was a shocking incident in which a knife-wielding intruder fatally stabbed eight first- and second-year students and injured 15 other victims, including teachers.
　包丁を持った男が学校に押し入り、当時１、２年生の児童８人を殺害、教師ら１５人に重軽傷を負わせた衝撃的な事件だった。

Attacked in their classrooms, the children who survived this ordeal are now high school students.
　襲われた教室の児童たちは高校生になった。

Some still suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder.
いまだに心的外傷後ストレス障害（ＰＴＳＤ）に苦しむ生徒もいる。

Long-term psychological support is needed.
心の傷を癒やす、息の長いケアが必要だ。

This incident made our society face the question of how to maintain safety at schools.
　この事件が社会に突きつけたのは、学校の安全をいかにして守るか、という問いである。

One measure introduced by the central government was to improve the crime prevention surveillance systems at schools.
　国が導入した施策の一つに、防犯監視システムの整備がある。

A survey taken three years ago showed that nearly 70 percent of schools had installed such security equipment as cameras, sensors and intercoms.
防犯カメラやセンサー、インターホンなどのいずれかを配置している学校は３年前の調査で、全国の７割近くに上る。

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Equipment not enough

But the installation of such equipment alone will not prevent intruders from entering school premises.
　ただし、機器を取り付ければ不審者の侵入を防げるというものではあるまい。

More than 1,500 intrusions into schools are reported every year.
毎年、学校施設への侵入事件は１５００件を超す。

Two years after the Ikeda murders, a man armed with a knife entered a primary school in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, and injured two children.
　池田小事件の２年後には、京都府宇治市の小学校に包丁を持った男が侵入し、児童２人にけがをさせた。

The school was equipped with a security camera and sensor, but did not have the camera on at all times.
防犯カメラもセンサーもあったが、カメラは常時監視しているわけではなく、

Also, the sensor was turned off at the time of the intrusion, as teachers were annoyed by the sounds it made.
センサーも「うるさいから」と、切っていた。

A lack of vigilance among teachers can create a blind spot in school crime prevention.
　教職員らの監視の緩みが、防犯上の“死角”を作る。

It is critical for teachers to be always conscious of protecting children and ready to deal with contingencies.
大切なのは、子どもを守るという日頃の意識や万一への備えであろう。

A teacher who was working at Ikeda Primary School when the incident occurred later transferred to another school, and made a number of safety proposals that were accepted.
　事件当時、池田小にいたある教師は、転任先で安全性を高めるための提案をし、受け入れられた。

One of the proposals was to have teachers swap their usual sandals for sports shoes, so they could react quickly to any suspicious person who entered the school.
サンダル履きの教師を、不審者に迅速な対応ができないとして、運動靴に履き替えさせた。

The teacher also proposed moving first-floor classes to higher floors, as first-floor classrooms are vulnerable to intruders.
　教室が１階にあると、不審者に侵入されやすいため、上の階に移動させたという。

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Roads must be guarded

It is also essential to assure the safety of the roads students use to commute to school.
　通学路の安全確保も欠かせない。

Since the fatal stabbing incident, an increasing number of communities have drawn up safety maps for local children, indicating such dangerous locations as streets that are often deserted.
事件後、人通りのない危険な場所を記した安全マップ作りや、

Many have also started voluntary programs to monitor children on their way to and from school.
住民たちで登下校時の子どもを見守る地域が増えた。

Such efforts need to be regularly reviewed to meet the ever-changing circumstances of local communities.
　その地図や取り組みも、現状に合わなくなってはいないか。常に再点検が求められよう。

Ikeda Primary School was designated as an "international safe school" last year by the World Health Organization.
　池田小は昨年、世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）から、「インターナショナル・セーフ・スクール」に認証された。

It drew particular praise for its "safety class," a subject offered to all grades.
国際的に「安全な学校」とのお墨付きを得た。
　特に評価されたのは、全学年を対象とした「安全科」の授業だ。

Lessons include drills on how to deal with an intruder and swimming fully clothed in the school pool as preparation for incidents involving water.
不審者への対応訓練のほか、水難事故を想定し、着衣のままプールに入る。

Students also are taught how to escape from a fire by crawling, in drills using a smoke-generating device.
火災訓練では発煙装置を使い、床をはって避難する。

It is very important to help children learn how to protect themselves from crimes and natural disasters.
　犯罪や自然災害から身を守るすべを、子ども自身に学ばせることも重要である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 9, 2011)
（2011年6月9日01時19分 読売新聞）