COMMENTARY | The Japan nuclear crisis has led one Fukushima area high school literature teacher named Toshinori Shishido to resign in protest. The former Fukushima Nishi High educator was admonished by his superiors to stop creating an alarmist atmosphere for his students over the last couple of months, according to the Japan Times.
The 25-year teaching veteran chose to warn his students to put on surgical masks and also wear long-sleeve shirts to keep their skin covered when outdoors, but his advice caused protests by a number of parents who want their children to enjoy being outside in less than ideal conditions.
Yet according to Bloomberg, another Fukushima school, Shoyo Junior High School, had their students wearing headwear, surgical masks and long-sleeved clothing as well as staying indoors as much as possible, at around the same time Shishido began admonishing his students. Atomic plant workers are purportedly limited to being exposed to 20 millisieverts per year, yet roughly 20 percent of the Fukushima schools have been exposed to at least that much radiation, according to the above Japan Times article.
Wearing masks won't keep one from being exposed to radioactive gases. Yet according to a nuclear engineer Robert Kelley, wearing a mask does help keep larger "dust-sized" particles from being inhaled, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Radioactive dust particles, such as that from plutonium, can cause health issues, including cancer, as reported by the Colorado Daily.
Part of being a kid in normal circumstances during the spring and summer is being able to run outdoors carefree, wearing shorts and sleeveless tops while running around, playing baseball, swimming, and enjoying some cold refreshments. But when circumstances change, people need to adjust to that in order to try to salvage as much of their potential health as possible if they are going to remain in an area devastated by a nuclear disaster.
When a teacher is driven to quit by those in authority just because he's trying to encourage at least some safeguarding of Japan's future, that is, their children, it speaks loudly about how disasters can lead to eventual denial by some because the desire to have things the way they used to be is so strong in people.
It's bad enough the Fukushima locals have been exposed, but if they can keep much of those larger radioactive particles out/off of their bodies, it's worth being inconvenienced.
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