Children as agents of change in disaster preparedness

Uncovering misconceptions and investing in children’s education on bushfire behaviour enables them to genuinely participate in bushfire plan development and implementation and become agents of change for their communities - that’s the belief of CRC researcher Dr Briony Towers. 

Briony, from RMIT University, recently featured on the Emerging Minds podcast, in the episode Disaster preparedness, myths and programs that hold promise, which forms part of the Community Trauma Toolkit.  

In the podcast, Briony explains that children who have been involved in the development of their family's bushfire plans have a sophisticated understanding of bushfire risk. But being involved in developing the plans is just a starting point. 

The main misconception the research project Child-centred disaster risk reduction uncovered is that while children understand that the bush surrounding their community may experience bushfire, they don’t necessarily grasp that the bushfire can and often does impact the urban interface area or come through the town itself. 

“They tend not to have an understanding of how fire can travel via ember attack, or how houses can be ignited due to ember attack,” Briony explained. “They see fire as something that travels in quite a predictable way across the landscape, with the flames catching on to fuels as it goes along.” 

Their understanding omits any understanding of how a bushfire can make its way over rivers and roads, they often interpret that as ashphalt and water can’t catch fire this means the fire cannot make its way over.  

When these misconceptions are uncovered, and an understanding of bushfire behaviour is developed, children often have an accurate understanding of their bushfire risk.  

Briony’s evaluation of the survive and thrive program for primary schools - a pilot program run by the Country Fire Authority Victoria - is a great example of what this looks like in action.  

In Anglesea, the program enabled children to develop a foundation of knowledge and skills through experiential activities and relationships with local experts. The children then used their skills and knowledge to develop student-led community education workshops, becoming agents of change for their families and communities.  

When implemented in Strathewen, a community affected by the Black Saturday bushfires, the program reduced anxiety and fear around bushfires in children. 

“The evidence that we have so far from Strathewen is that learning about preparedness, and learning how to assess risk and giving the children opportunities to take action at home, school and in the community is actually a huge part of their recovery, because it provides them with a huge sense of safety and security that they otherwise didn’t necessarily have,” said Briony.  

To hear more about the outcomes of the Strathewen-Arthur’s Creek Bushfire Education partnership, watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/324911733/262dc797ee  

Briony emphasised that starting a conversation is an action that both parents and educators can take today. By investing in children's education, we can protect them from the known long-term impacts on their psychosocial development caused by bushfire related trauma.  

The full podcast is available at: https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/podcast/disaster-preparedness-myths-and-programs-that-hold-promise/