Big Bird, Disaster Masters, and High School Students Taking Charge: The Social Capacities of Children in Disaster Education

Tricia Wachtendorf
Bethany Brown
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and
Disaster Research Center
University of Delaware

Marcia C. Nickle
Department of Public Safety
University of Delaware

Department of Public Safety
University of Delaware

Citation: Wachtendorf, Tricia, Bethany Brown and Marcia C. Nickle (2008). "Big Bird, Disaster Masters, and High School Students Taking Charge: The Social Capacities of Children in Disaster Education." Children, Youth and Environments 18 (1): 456-469. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

Disasters affect segments of the population in different ways. Although age-based vulnerabilities place children at risk, children may offer unique capacities for bolstering disaster resilience. This paper reviews three initiatives that focus on children and disasters, including a Sesame Workshop-produced video aimed at pre- school children, an American Red Cross initiative that focuses on children in kindergarten through middle school, and a video directed at high school students as part of a student-generated initiative at a Seattle school. The authors use a matrix developed by Anderson and Woodrow (1989) to assess the extent to which these initiatives emphasize youth-based vulnerabilities and capacities with respect to physical/material, social/organizational, and motivational/attitudinal factors. The field report ends with a call for more systematic research to explore the effectiveness of disaster education initiatives that seek to educate youth.

Keywords: disaster, education, children, vulnerability, resilience