Finding a Fun and Engaging Media to Deliver Disaster Preparedness Messages for Younger Children in Indonesia

Indonesia has experienced numerous natural disasters due to its geographic location. It is no stranger to earthquakes, typhoon and floods, landslides, volcano eruptions and even tsunamis. In 2016 alone Indonesia endured 2,342 natural disasters according to the National Board of Disaster Management, and the number is predicted to increase every year (BBC, 2016). Despite that high number of disasters, there have been very limited program of disaster preparedness for the communities. Moreover, there is a lack of disaster preparedness program for younger children. Younger children require special consideration due to their developmental stage cognitive ability. Since understanding the concept of danger and risk involve the use of abstract reasoning, a special approach should be applied when targeting younger children. The abstract reasoning ability among children under the age of 12 are still not fully developed, which will hinder them from understanding complex messages. Younger children also have a shorter attention span compare to older children, and they will pay more attention when the method of delivery is engaging. Therefore it is essential to develop a disaster preparedness program for younger children with sensitivity to their characteristics. We were proposing a fun and engaging way to convey the disaster preparedness program for younger children by using song and dance as media of delivery. The songs were created together by colleagues at Peduli Musik Anak (PMA) and several local teachers. A series of trial were conducted to check for acceptability and effectiveness of the media of delivery to some yonger children aged 5 to 10 years old in Aceh. We interviewed the children as well as the parents and teachers to obtain their insights on the content and the media of delivery of our disaster preparedness program. The results revealed that the program was considered more effective compared to all other media that are available in delivering message of disaster preparedness for younger children. They lyrics of the songs were simple and easy to understand by younger children. They were also easy to translate into some local dialect or language. The rhythm and melody was fun and memorable enough asto promote frequent repetition by the children. The dance movement was easy and serves as reminder of the actions that should be taken by the children if disaster strikes. The children, teachers and parents aslo perceived the program as lot of fun, yet the message was easily captured. Therefore the would like to spread this program further to their schoolmates, student and neighbors.