Sunday, March 18, 2012

Kyodo News: 32% of School Children in Fukushima Worry About Radiation, 61% Don't

From Kyodo News (3/18/2012):

東京電力福島第1原発事故で避難し、福島県内にとどまる小学5年と中学2年への共同通信アンケートで、回答した225人のうち72人(32%)が「事故後初めて放射線を気にしながら生活している」ことが18日、分かった。

Kyodo News conducted the poll of 5th graders in elementary schools and 2nd graders in junior high schools who evacuated their homes after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident but remained inside Fukushima Prefecture. Of 225 students who responded, 72 students (32%) were "worried about radiation for the first time [in their lives], after the nuclear accident happened), it was revealed on March 18.

 「事故前から気になっていた」のは3人(1%)。一方で、今でも放射線を「気にしていない」のは138人(61%)に上り、大人の世代によってつくられた「安全神話」の中で、原発が身近な子どもの複雑な心中が浮き彫りになった。

3 students (1%) had worried about radiation even before the accident. On the other hand, 138 students (61%) "were not worried about radiation" even after the accident. It shows the mixed feeling that children have [toward radiation] in the "safety myth" created by their parents' and grandparents' generations, even as they lived near the nuclear power plant.

 県外避難への思いとして「仕方がない」(34%)、「戻ってきてほしい」(31%)がほぼ同じ。

[I'm not sure what Kyodo means with the last sentence, as it doesn't sense. So the following is my interpretation of what Kyodo may have meant.]

As to their fellow students who evacuated to outside Fukushima Prefecture, 34% say they "understand", and 31% say they "want them back".

Kyodo News calls it "mixed feeling", but looking at the numbers it doesn't seem mixed. Nearly twice as many students say they don't care. There is no poll to compare that was taken prior to the accident, so there is no knowing what percentage of students had feared radiation prior to the accident.

From what I hear, people who have remained inside Fukushima are doubling down, so to speak, more than ever determined to live a normal (i.e. pre-nuke accident) life.

Dr. Shunichi Yamashita seems to have succeeded in securing his research subjects.

If you haven't seen the BBC documentary on children in Fukushima, please do so. The title of the documentary is "Japan's Children of the Tsunami". There may be a copy still somewhere on Youtube or Dailymotion.

It's not the matter of whether they worry about radiation or not. It is about whether it is right for any adults to keep these children, looking healthy and well-adjusted for the most part in the BBC documentary, trapped in Fukushima.

3 comments:

Never Forget March 11 2011 said...

My feelings exactly ex. "something stinks to high heaven" with this poll. Kids aren't stupid. They KNOW what's happening.

Anonymous said...

The children in the BBC documentary that you write about are wise beyond their years. Watching the documentary was heart breaking. I so wanted to be able to move these beautiful children and their families away from Fukushima to other areas of Japan. The earthquake and tsunami were natural disasters but the nuclear accident and what is happening in Fukushima and high radiation areas is a man made disaster. Clearly, no children should live in high radiation areas.

Anonymous said...

Children are not stupid but they do trust in, believe in and rely on adults for guidance. Tears well as I try to express my feelings. Words fail me........

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