The DAG was tested on a multicultural group of Grade 5 students in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Besides promoting awareness among these children the application of the DAG in this setting was also intended to evaluate whether or not non-English speakers would score differently on the game than Anglophone students. The rationale is that if there were no significant differences between the scores of the two groups this would be an indication that the DAG was effective in allowing equity of access to the information content of the game by both groups. Multiculturalism in the TCI was previously highlighted (Chapter 4, supra. Pp.33).
8.4.1. Approach to Application of the DAG to the TCI
The school in which the DAG was tested is a microcosm of the multicultural landscape of the TCI. In that regard, students of non-Anglophone ethnicity accounted for just over 30 percent of the class that was sampled (Table 1, Chapter 1, Supra Pp 11). Special observations were made of non-Anglophone students during the DAG process so as to establish whether the design considerations were appropriate for a multicultural setting. In the TCI, the prevailing view is that non-Anglophone children tend to hold back the progress of syllabi owing to poor language acquisition skills. In other words, in traditional modes of learning non-Anglophone children are at a disadvantage in terms of their capacity to assimilate information. However, as a non-traditional teaching technique the DAG demonstrated that this issue could be resolved. The scores of the multicultural groups sampled showed that the performance of
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Anglophone students were on par with their Anglophone counterparts. The fact that no disparity in scores occurred is an indication that the DAG technique had effectively allowed equity in comprehension, assimilation and application of the information contained in the game, particularly in terms of children’s natural hazard awareness, their risk perceptions and their household level of preparedness.
8.4.1.1. Children’s Natural Hazard Awareness
Level of hazard awareness among children is influenced by the extent of their hazard and disaster education as well as their level of exposure especially within the context of their household.
During the DAG exercise the level of awareness among children was assessed by asking participants to identify hazards that have or are likely to impact their communities. In all cases, non-Anglophone children demonstrated a higher level of awareness of hazards that are likely to impact their communities than Anglophone children (Figure 20).
Childrens' Perceptions of likely Hazard Impacts on their Communities
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Hurricane Flood
Tropical St orm
Winds torm
Earthquake Droug
ht Wildfire
Tsunam i
Lands
lide/Debris F low
Volcanic Erupt ion
Hazard
Percentage
Anglophone Non-Anglophone
Figure 20: Children’s perception of likely hazard impact on their communities
A number of explanations can be proffered for this tendency. First, the parents of non-Anglophone students were usually from larger islands such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, which have been repeatedly ravaged by the impact of multiple hazards. The experiences of these events would have been passed on to their children in dramatic stories, thus allowing for higher levels of awareness among these non-Anglophone children. Secondly, in many non-Anglophone migrant communities parents consistently access the media of their countries of origin. Disaster events occurring in these countries, which are usually more vulnerable than the TCI, would have been conveyed to these children.
While oral communication with parents played a significant role in terms of hazard education for non-Anglophone children, the media, especially television, featured more prominently in the hazard education of Anglophone children (Figure 21). A possible explanation for this trend is that Anglophone parents tend to rely more on the media to educate their children about hazards, perhaps because of the lack of personal experience of hazard impact and as such the absence of a disaster culture. On the other hand, parents of non-Anglophone children have had repeated exposure to natural hazard impacts and perhaps have suffered great loss and therefore take hazard impacts more seriously and try to prepare their children in the event of a hazard occurrence.
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Comparative Sources of Hazard/Disaster Information-TCI
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
schools parents or guardians TV programs Radio programs schools parents or guardians TV programs Radio programs
FLOOD HURRICANE
Sources of Information/
Hazard
Percentage
Anglophone Non-Anglophone
Figure 21: Comparative sources of hazard/disaster information for Anglo and non-Anglophone children in the TCI
Dissemination of disaster information can only be considered effective if the information that is designed for vulnerable population reaches and is understood by its target audience. It is noteworthy that the difference between Anglophone and non-Anglophone children who use television and radio as a source of information for flood and hurricane hazards vary by as much as 67% with the exception of hurricane where more non-Anglophone children actually reported a higher percentage of use of radio to obtain hurricane information (Figure 21). Further probing of non-Anglophone children students as to the origin of the source of their radio information revealed that a considerable percentage, (87%), of their parents access weather related information from their country of origin. Perhaps this is due to their perception that the information obtained from their country of origin is more reliable. A second possible reason why non-Anglophone parents tend to access weather related information from their country of origin can be due to the fact that bilingual information is not broadcasted on traditional news media on a regular basis but mainly just prior to an imminent hazard threat or following a flooding event. This practice has perhaps resulted in non-Anglophone parents becoming unaccustomed to accessing local media stations for weather related information. The application of the DAG in the TCI not only served to evaluate comparative levels of awareness among Anglophone and non-Anglophone students but in addition, identified an effective knowledge transfer technique for the communication of disaster information.
8.4.1.2. Children’s Risk Perceptions
There is a view that a major factor impeding disaster management is the negative risk perception of migrants. This is particularly true where such perceptions are fatalistic or informed by myths. The risk perception of sampled children was assessed in terms of perceived vulnerability of their country, community and homes (Figure 22).