The Hazard Perception of High School Students

• Main Authors: Yi-ter Lin, 林宜德
• Other Authors: Jen-hung Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/71572543999710337140

碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 地學研究所 === 89 === ABSTRACT Taiwan has suffered from many kinds of calamities , and among them the 921 earthquake was the most destructive one , which shocked the whole island.After that quake , all the experts have devoted themselves to the reconstruction of the land use code and the conservation of soil.However, there's one more thing we should do that is to educate the teenagers to learn lessons from disasters. Once they acquire the know-how they can help relieve the impact, which is considered the first step to disaster prevention. Therefore, the focus of this report is to investigate students' awareness of the calamities which pose threats to the Taiwan area, including typhoons, floods, quakes, landslides, etc. The purpose of this research is to provide the authorities concerned with results and suggestions which can be helpful in the future planning. Some important research findings are as follows: 1. Materials of calamities in geography courses have been improved. They not only introduce the nature of a disaster but also stress on people's reaction and prevention.In awareness, students consider the continental movements have something to do with quakes, typhoons come from the low pressure systems on a tropical ocean; people's improper use and development of land cause floods and landslides , quakes and typhoons are considered as natural disasters, while landslides and floods man-made ones. 2. The majority of senior high school students know how much damage these calamities will do. But only 36.2 percent of them know the right frequency of a quake, there is a big difference between students in the north and in the east. The former think it has a longer cycle while the latter shorter one. Apparently, quakes are either overestimated or underestimated. However, students all acknowledge well that typhoons often occur between summer and fall and the main cause of a quake is the continental movement. Students are weak in answering where typhoons cause the most strong winds and rain, which is the task to be strengthened in the future. 3. In perception of the most hazard prone-areas, students recognize quakes occur often in the east,landslides in the central areas, and floods in the north. 4. Most students think quakes happening within a short time are most destructive , next are landslides, and then typhoons and floods. Furthermore , the students consider that earthquakes are most difficult to be controlled, while typhoons and floods are comparatively easier to handle. And , the landslides are considered to be the easiest one to deal with. 5. In behavior, there's no difference due to sex, experiences, locations, and living environment. It differs, however , from different grade of students. Grade 1 students are better than grade 2; and grade 2 are better than grade 3 students. 6. Most senior high school students hold a reasonable, positive attitude toward hazards. They know how to stay away from dangers and are willing to devote themselves instead of being indifferent.But the results differ in areas, grades, sexes. Boys are prior to girls;students in the east, center and south are prior to those in north; students in the east are prior to those in the south. As to grades, the first grade is prior to the second and third. 7. The priorities of students' fears are : landslides , quakes , and then floods . Among them, landslides, not quakes,are the most fearful.Few fear typhoons. 8. In behavior adaptation, most students take active action instead of suffering passively. They tend to expect that the government pay more attention to hazard prevention and related construction. To protect people, the government should not neglect this result. 9. The main information resources of students are from ; (1)TV and radio (2)school (3)newspaper and magazine. The most acceptable ways to educate them are (1)a visit to the striken areas(2)materials edited into the textbook.The most urgent hazards to be understood are (1)quakes (2)landslides (3)floods and (4)typhoons.In satisfaction, students are not satisfied with the relief and prevention jobs led by the government. They are less satisfied with “prevention education and promotion” and “preventive construction” than with “hazard prediction” .Students in the first grade feel more satisfied than the third ; the juniors are also more satisfied than seniors .