Developing Children’s Communication and Social Awareness Skills in Volcano Disaster Areas through Physical Education and Sports Programs

Abstract

This study examined the effects of physical education (PE) and sports programs on children’s communication and social awareness skills in a volcano disaster-prone area in which a 2010 eruption has already produced trauma. Fourth through sixth grade students (n = 810) from fifteen elementary schools in disaster-prone areas, 5 - 15 km from the top of the Merapi volcano, were randomly assigned to groups receiving standard and experimental PE and sports programs over 28 weeks in the academic year 2014/2015. Data were collected before and after the program using communication (10 items) and social awareness (10 items) skills scales. Two- and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and paired sample t-tests were used to compare group means at pre- and post-testing. There were significant interaction on communication and social awareness skills scores between the tests and groups, with gains on mean communication and social awareness scores from pretest to post-test and in the intervention group, compared to control groups. The intervention, a psychosocial-based PE and sports program, was an effective way to improve children’s communication and social awareness skills.