防災教育 自ら危機回避できる力育もう

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 10, 2011)
Nurture children's ability to avoid danger on their own
防災教育　自ら危機回避できる力育もう（12月9日付・読売社説）

Japan is one of the nations most frequently hit by natural disasters.
　日本は世界有数の自然災害多発国である。

It is imperative that children are taught in their daily lives how to respond effectively when an emergency strikes.
「いざ」という時の対応力を日頃から養う防災教育の充実が欠かせない。

The details of what children should be taught, however, have so far been left up to individual schools.
　ところが、どのような教育を行うかについては、これまで学校現場に任せきりだった。

The Great East Japan Earthquake claimed the lives of 550 children, ranging from kindergartners to high school students.

Reflecting on this, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to work out a set of nationwide guidelines spelling out how to make children more capable of avoiding danger by themselves.
　東日本大震災では幼稚園から高校まで５５０人の児童・生徒が犠牲になった。

We urge the ministry to responsibly provide specifics in intelligible, concrete terms.
その反省から、文部科学省は、子供が自らの判断で危機を回避する能力を育むことを全国共通の指針にする方針だ。
　文科省は責任を持って具体的な教育内容を詰める必要がある。

The example set by children in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, has been a beacon.
　注目されているのが、岩手県釜石市の事例だ。

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'Miracle of Kamaishi'

Although Kamaishi was struck by the catastrophic tsunami on March 11, the great majority of the 3,000 primary and middle school students in the city fled to safety and were physically unhurt.
津波に襲われながら、小中学生３０００人の大半が避難して無事だった。

Many children decided on their own that it would be risky to take shelter at designated evacuation sites, and instead made a beeline for higher ground to escape the oncoming tsunami.
指定された避難場所では危ないと判断し、高台に上って難を逃れた。

For the last seven years, schools in Kamaishi have taught their students the basics of evacuation by inviting experts in disaster management as advisers to speak to the children.
　釜石市では７年前から、災害対応の専門家をアドバイザーに迎え、

The golden rules drilled into the children were "Don't trust assumptions about disasters" and "Put yourself first and flee."
「想定を信じない」「自分が率先して逃げる」といった避難の原則を徹底して教えてきた。

The schools also incorporated content about disasters in each subject.
One question in a mathematics class on velocity asked students to think about the speed at which a tsunami would reach the coast.
　数学の授業では、速度の計算で津波の到達する速さを考えさせるなど、各教科の指導に災害に関する内容を盛り込んでいる。

The accumulation of these efforts resulted in the students swiftly evacuating in what has widely been referred to as "the miracle of Kamaishi."
　こうした積み重ねが、「釜石の奇跡」と呼ばれる迅速な避難行動につながったと言える。

Other ingenious methods have been employed elsewhere.
　釜石市以外でも、工夫を凝らした取り組みが見られる。

In some places, children heard from elderly local people who experienced massive earthquakes in the past, while others drew antidisaster maps highlighting vulnerable areas by examining geographical features of their neighborhood.
　子供たちが、過去に大地震を体験した地元の古老から聞き取りをする。地域の地形を調べて、危険箇所をまとめた防災マップを作る。

Some school athletic meets included bucket relay races and contests to build makeshift stretchers.
運動会で担架作り競争やバケツリレー競争を行う、などだ。

These antidisaster education activities, however, have been held only in some regions, rather than nationwide.
　ただ、これらの実践は一部にとどまり、全国に普及していない。

The education ministry and several local governments have introduced examples of antidisaster education on their websites.
文科省や一部の自治体はホームページで防災教育の事例を紹介しているが、

They should provide more in-depth information online so their expertise can be shared with schools in every corner of the nation.
内容を充実させ、すべての学校でノウハウを共有できるようにすることが急務である。

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Don't leave kids home alone

Boosting teacher awareness about antidisaster education is also a key task.
　教員の意識向上も課題だ。

The ministry is scheduled to hold antidisaster training courses this month and January for 220 supervisors from prefectural boards of education.
　文科省は今月と来月、各都道府県で指導役となる教育委員会の指導主事ら２２０人を集め、全国規模の防災研修を実施する。

These supervisors will pass this information on to teachers.
It is of basic importance that every teacher acquire the skills to teach students how to stay safe in a disaster.
　すべての教員が指導法を身につけることが基本だ。

It will also become necessary to include antidisaster lessons in university courses for prospective teachers and courses for newly appointed educators.
大学の養成課程や採用後の研修に関連講座を組み入れることも必要になろう。

After the March 11 disaster, many commuters were unable to go home because of disruptions to transportation networks in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
　一方、今回の震災では、交通機関が不通になった首都圏で保護者が帰宅困難者となり、

Many children spent hours at home alone after returning from school, waiting for their parents to return.
学校から戻った子供が誰もいない自宅で長時間過ごすケースが相次いだ。

The Tokyo metropolitan government has settled on a policy of, in principle, keeping children at school after a massive disaster until they can be given to their parents.
　東京都は震災後、保護者に引き渡すまで原則的に子供を学校に留め置く方針を打ち出した。

We hope parents and schools will together work out the rules governing when children should be picked up following a catastrophe.
災害時に子供を引き渡すルールを、学校と保護者で決めておきたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 9, 2011)
（2011年12月9日01時15分 読売新聞）