被災地の教育 心のケアはこれから正念場だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 10, 2014
Need for mental care for children in disaster areas facing crucial phase
被災地の教育　心のケアはこれから正念場だ（3月10日付・読売社説）

In areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, many children suffer anxiety disorders for such reasons as the deaths of relatives in the disaster and subsequent drastic changes to their living conditions.
　東日本大震災の被災地では、肉親との死別や生活環境の変化などから、心に不安を抱える子供が少なくない。

It took three years after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake for the number of primary and middle school students requiring psychological care in connection with the earthquake to peak, and so the need to provide children affected by the March 2011 calamity with such mental care is entering a critical phase.
　１９９５年の阪神大震災の３年後に、精神面の配慮が必要な小中学生の数がピークとなったことを考えると、これからが心のケアの正念場と言える。

According to a survey by a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry study team, which released its findings earlier this month, about 30 percent of children in the three Tohoku prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima aged 3 to 5 at the time of the disaster exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks of their horrific experiences.
　今月発表された厚生労働省研究班の調査結果によると、岩手、宮城、福島の東北３県で３～５歳の時に震災を経験した子供の３割に、怖い体験がよみがえるといった心的外傷後ストレス障害（ＰＴＳＤ）の症状がみられた。

The more painful events a child has experienced, such as witnessing his or her home being swept away by tsunami and losing friends, the more likely the child is to show PTSD symptoms, according to an analysis of the findings.
　津波で家屋が流されるのを目撃したり、友達を亡くしたりするなどのつらい体験を多く経た子供ほど、ＰＴＳＤの症状が出やすいと分析している。

Many children are under great stress because they suppress their sadness and other disaster-related feelings out of consideration for people around them.
　周囲に気兼ねして、悲しみなどの感情を抑え込み、ストレスをためる子供も多いとされる。

It is extremely important for homeroom teachers as well as school nurses to be mindful of the well-being of the students by creating a classroom atmosphere in which they can confide their worries to teachers. If a child is suspected of developing psychological anomalies, it may be necessary for the problem to be diagnosed by a medical institution.
　担任の教師や養護教諭が、日頃から子供たちの様子に目を配り、子供が悩みを打ち明けやすい雰囲気を作ることが大切だ。心の変調が疑われる場合には、医療機関に診断を求める必要もあろう。

The truancy that has become conspicuous at schools in the disaster areas is also worrisome.
　被災地で、不登校が顕在化していることも問題だ。

Power of neighborhoods

According to a survey recently conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun in 42 cities, towns and villages in the coastal regions of the three disaster-struck prefectures and in the vicinity of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, 2,414 students enrolled at publicly operated primary and middle schools refused to go to school during the school year that ended on March 31, 2013. That was an increase of 76 from the figure just before the disaster.
　読売新聞が東北３県の沿岸部や東京電力福島第一原子力発電所周辺の４２市町村を調べたところ、２０１２年度に不登校となった公立小中学校の子供は２４１４人で、震災前より７６人増えた。

About half the municipalities surveyed cited the impact of the earthquake and the nuclear crisis at the TEPCO plant as reasons behind the rise in truancy. Some students reportedly were distressed about attending school after being repeatedly shunted from one place to another because of the nuclear crisis.
　原因として、震災や原発事故の影響を挙げている市町村が約半数にのぼった。原発事故で避難を繰り返すうちに、学校に通う気力をなくした子もいるという。

The Yomiuri Shimbun survey’s findings are particularly disturbing, given that truancy has declined on a nationwide basis.
　全国的に見ると、不登校の小中学生は減少傾向にあるだけに、気がかりな結果である。

Children’s parents and other guardians in the disaster areas are often on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of the instability of their livelihoods.
　生活が安定しない被災地の保護者は、精神的な余裕をなくしがちだ。

Both the central and local governments should improve counseling arrangements through such steps as increasing school social workers, who would visit children’s homes and help improve living environments.
子供の家庭を訪問し、環境改善を図るスクールソーシャルワーカーの増員など相談体制の強化が、国や自治体に求められる。

As they have spent a long time living in temporary housing with little floor space, many children have difficulty finding sufficient time to study at home.
　手狭な仮設住宅の暮らしが長期化する中、家庭学習の時間が確保しづらいという傾向もある。

In the town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, the nonprofit organization Katariba has been running Onagawa Kogakukan, an after-school tutoring course in cooperation with the local board of education. About 30 percent of the town’s primary and middle school students attend.
　宮城県女川町では、ＮＰＯ法人「カタリバ」が教育委員会と協力して、放課後の学習塾「女川向学館」を運営している。町の小中学生の約３割が通ってくる。

Instructors at Onagawa Kogaku- kan, including a former lecturer at a preparatory school, inform the children’s guardians and their schoolteachers about what the children are learning there. This undertaking seems to be designed to help improve disaster-affected children’s scholastic abilities on the strength of the collective effort of local neighborhoods.
　塾の中で子供たちがどのように学習しているかを、指導役の元塾講師らが学校の教師や保護者にも伝えている。地域ぐるみで学力向上を図る仕組みだ。

Cooperation between the government and public sectors should be encouraged to ensure a good learning environment for children.
　官民の連携で、こうした試みを継続し、学習環境を整えたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 10, 2014)
（2014年3月10日00時55分 読売新聞）