Formal education and disaster response of children: evidence from coastal villages in Indonesia

Abstract

Although children are exposed to a high mortality risk during disasters, what determines their disaster response, especially during earthquakes, remains largely unexplored. The goal of this study is to examine the association between formal education and earthquake response. Using a unique survey collected from elementary school students in the coastal villages of Indonesia, we show that students' attitude to learning science is positively associated with their risk perception, perceived coping ability, knowledge about the disaster mechanism and response, and propensity to respond appropriately. Parents' disaster experience also significantly affects these outcomes. In contrast, attitude to religious class explains none of outcomes. Locus of control is associated with perception and knowledge, but not the response. Our findings suggest that the effects of education on the disaster mortality of children could vary with the school curriculum.

School-Based Education Programs for Preparing Children for Natural Hazards: A Systematic Review

“…As shown in Table 2, among the reviewed articles, 11 were related to New Zealand, [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] 9 to Indonesia, 16,[33][34][35][36][37][38]78,79 5 to Japan, [43][44][45][46]77 3 to Israel, [40][41][42] 3 to Pakistan, [63][64][65] 2 to Nepal, 50,51 2 to Romania, 24,25 2 to the United States, 74,75 2 to Italy, 18,32 2 to Timor-Leste, 24,25 2 to China, 29,30 1 to Serbia, 67 1 to Bangladesh, 49 1 to Turks and Caicos Islands, 73 1 to Ghana, 31 1 to Tanzania, 69 1 to Lao PDR, …”

Behavioral impact of disaster education: Evidence from a dance-based program in Indonesia

“…Although we have shown a significant and large treatment effect, some students may benefit from the program less than the others. Specifically, previous studies suggest that fewer years of schooling and poorer learning attitude at school lead to poorer performance in disaster preparedness and response (Gaillard and Mercer 2013;Hoffmann and Muttarak 2017;Muttarak and Pothisiri 2013;Shoji et al 2019). Similarly, if the disaster education does not have an impact for students with poor learning attitude/performance, those who need the program most will be left behind because disaster-vulnerable regions in developing countries generally have less educated residents.…”

Children’s preparedness for disasters

“…school-based disaster preparedness in Turkey (Codreanu et al, 2016;Mermer et al, 2018;. (Adiyoso & Kanegae, 2012Baytiyeh, 2014;Chang & Chang, 2010;Codreanu et al, 2015;Codreanu et al, 2016;Fadhila et al, 2019;Issa et al, 2019;Kamil, Utaya, Sumarmi, et al, 2020;Kanyasan et al, 2018;Mermer et al, 2018;Moradian & Mehraein Nazdik, 2019;Noviana et al, 2019;Pinar, 2017;Rahman, 2019;Sakurai et al, 2018;Sakurai et al, 2020;Shah et al, 2020;Shah et al, 2018;Shaw et al, 2004;Shiwaku & Shaw, 2008;Shiwaku et al, 2007;Shoji et al, 2020aShoji et al, , 2020bSujarwo et al, 2018;Tuladhar et al, 2014;Wei et al, 2020;Yeon et al, 2020; Asia Continent 4 (Apronti et al, 2015;Codreanu et al, 2015;Codreanu et al, 2016;Haulle, 2012) Africa 3 (Clerveaux et al, 2010;Johnson et al, 2014;Ramirez et al, 2009) North America 3 (de Mendonca & Valois, 2017;Edler et al, 2020; South America 10 ( Bandecchi et al, 2019;Bernhardsdottir et al, 2016;…”

“…Among reviewed studies twenty four papers confirm that disaster education for children in schools is useful and beneficial (Adiyoso & Kanegae, 2012Bodas et al, 2019;Cvetković et al, 2015;Fadhila et al, 2019;Finnis et al, 2010;Haulle, 2012;Johnston et al, 2011;Kamil, Utaya, Sumarmi, et al, 2020;Mermer et al, 2018;Moradian & Mehraein Nazdik, 2019;Mutch & Gawith, 2014;Noviana et al, 2019;Sakurai et al, 2018;Sakurai et al, 2020;Shaw et al, 2004;Shiwaku & Shaw, 2008;Shiwaku et al, 2007;Shoji et al, 2020aShoji et al, , 2020bSoffer et al, 2010;Wei et al, 2020;. They point out that hazard education raises children's perception, knowledge, and awareness about disasters.…”

“…, 2003Sakurai et al, 2018;Sakurai et al, 2020;Shah et al, 2020;Shoji et al, 2020aShoji et al, , 2020bSoffer et al, 2010;Sujarwo et al, 2018;Tuladhar et al, 2014) …”