nuclear-news

Japan – prejudice against residents of Fukushima Prefecture

Teachers lack knowledge It is important to teach children the meaning of “becquerel,” which indicates how much radiation a radioactive substance emits, and “sievert,” the unit for calculating the effect radiation has on the human body. This will help children better understand daily news reports about radiation….

Better radiation education needed to end prejudice, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 20 Aug 11 Ever since the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, many evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture have been subjected to discrimination and prejudice.

A student who transferred from the prefecture to a primary school in the Kanto region was shunned by classmates and eventually stopped going to class. Some gas stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area have refused to serve cars bearing Fukushima license plates.

These mindless acts stem from the misunderstanding that radiation can be passed from person to person.

Hurting or harassing people due to a lack of basic scientific knowledge cannot be allowed to go unchecked. Education aboutradiation must be improved radically.

Until the nuclear crisis erupted, many Japanese probably knew little about radioactivity. This is because students in this country have not been taught about radiation for three decades……

30 years of lax education

Middle school students in the 1960s and ’70s were taught about radiation. But since the ’80s, this topic has been erased from school textbooks as class content was reduced in line with the “yutori” (relaxed) education policy.

However, the government has decided to revive lessons on radioactivity for the first time in 30 years…..

August 22, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, Religion and ethics