The Effects of a Life-Respect Education Program on Middle School Students' Values on Life-Respect

생명존중교육프로그램이 중학생의 생명존중의식과 생명존중태도에 미치는 영향

Objectives: This study investigates the factors influencing values on life-respect among middle school students. Methods: The participants in this study were 126 students from S middle school and Y middle school, both located in Gyeongnam province. The experimental group consisted of 40 students from S middle school, Control group-Iconsisted of 39 students from S middle school, and Control group-II consisted of 47 students from Y middle school. The experimental group was provided with 12 incidences of the life-respect education program from April 1st to June 29th. One period took 45 minutes and proceeded according to a structure of introduction, development, and consolidation. The experimental group received a life-respect education program, Control group-I received health teaching, but Control group-II didn't receive any special education except what was regularly part of their curriculum. The content of the life-respect education program included the following topics: value of life-respect, respect for human life and ethics, life-respect campaign, having a healthy mind, suicide prevention, dealing with crisis, prevention of school violence, abortion and life-respect, social weak minority consideration, death, brain death, euthanasia, life cycle and task, and forest activities. Questionnaires were administered as pre and post-tests which consisted of questions regarding death anxiety, suicide risk, and values on life-respect. The pre and post-tests were analyzed with t-tests, paired t-tests, ANOVAs, and factor analyses using SPSS 18.0. Results: 1. There was a statistically significant increase in the experimental group(p<.0001) and control group-I(p<0.05) in value and attitude about life-respect. On the other hand, it was shown that there was no difference between pre and post-test in control group-II. 2. The result of examining the differences between pre and post-tests after education on values and attitudes toward life-respect using ANCOVA showed, there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) among the three groups. Conclusion: the life-respect education program which was conducted over 12 meeting with middle school students had an positive effect, which can be used as basic data for fostering values on life-respect. These findings indicate that the life-respect education program this study used is effective for fostering value of life-respect and decreasing suicide risk.