Empowering Children to Lead Change: Incorporating Preparedness Curricula in the K-12 Educational System
Abstract : A combination of both man-made and natural disasters in recent years has revitalized the concept of civil preparedness and defense in the United States. During the State of the Union Address in 2002, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Citizen Corps, a component of the USA Freedom Corps initiative developed shortly after 9/11. Additionally, FEMA launched the "Are You Ready?" campaign to provide individuals, families, and communities with in-depth preparedness information and training, and the American Red Cross developed its own educational disaster preparedness program designed to coincide with the daily threat level. While the various programs include several common themes, including a special emphasis on disaster preparedness for children, they lack promotion, visibility, standardization, and coordination. Empowering children to lead change by teaching families and other citizens is one possible methodology to enhance visibility and inspire participation in such programs. This thesis examines the pros and cons of historical and current citizen preparedness campaigns and K-12 preparedness curricula, other countries' approaches to citizen preparedness, elements of successful preparedness programs, Homeland Security stakeholder benefits of preparedness programs for children, and potential arguments against the implementation of such programs. The author concludes the thesis with criteria for a successful K-12 civil preparedness curriculum.
United States and Israeli Homeland Security: A Comparative Analysis of Emergency Preparedness Efforts
Abstract : This paper will provide a comparative analysis of the United States (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security's Emergency Preparedness and Response directorate and the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command. It will focus on the preparedness aspect of homeland security and will address similarities and differences of both organizations, recent initiatives within each organization, and collaborative efforts between the United States and Israel in support of homeland security. It will illustrate that both organizations have made great strides in their homeland security efforts but there is still much that needs to be done. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was established on January 23, 2003, in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is built upon the long and solid track record of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It oversees the federal government's national response and recovery strategy and ensures our nation is prepared for natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Israel does not have a Department of Homeland Security. Israel established its Home Front Command, an entity of the Israel Defense Force (IDF), in February 1992, largely as a result of events of the 1991 Gulf War. The Home Front Command falls under the minister of defense within the IDF. There are certainly lessons the United States can learn from Israel's 35-year battle against terrorism. We must not forget, however, that Israel is a small country approximately the size of our state of New Jersey. Therefore, many of Israel's security initiatives are simply not practical or feasible for implementation within the United States of America.
Defense Program and School Plants
THE EXPANSION OF EXISTING and the creation of new Army, Navy, and industrial establishments, with the resulting concentration of population in hundreds of places throughout the country in carrying on activities essential to the national defense, has brought to the fore many problems of planning and providing services never before experienced by American communities. With many communities doubling in population and with the building of entirely new towns and cities, transportation facilities and the usual governmental services, if available at all, have proved to be inadequate. Many serious problems are simultaneously confronting us in connection with the provision of facilities necessary to community life. Activities of the federal government in its defense program have caused an unprecedented migration of personnel to Army, Navy, and industrial establishments. In many of the localities experiencing this defense impact, essential community services are not available. Our attention has quickly been drawn to the fact that these essential community services cannot be made available by state and local governmental entities. The federal government has found it necessary to lend its assistance.