Organize a minute of silence in your school for the Japan disaster

Dear Readers,

As there is probably no need to point out, Japan was hit by it’s worst disaster since 1945, earlier this month. Thousands upon thousands of people have lost everything they own. Many have only the clothes on their backs. Hundreds of thousands whose homes were destroyed still have no power, no hot meals and in many cases have not showered in two weeks. Latest official figures show that over 10,000 people have died, over 17,000 people are missing and thousands more are injured as a result of the earthquake and tsunami. However, Japan also faces a different kind of threat. As you probably know, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant overheated and huge explosions were seen as the hydrogen that had built up inside combusted. This was because the fuel tanks and other equipment for the back-up generators that were in place to keep the water circulation moving, were washed away in the tsunami after the earthquake. Japan is now praying for a miracle as a massive nuclear disaster and the menace of a nuclear meltdown looms.

So, The Lycée Times has decided to encourage the students of France to organize a minute of silence in their schools. Whether it’s a primary school or a university, just one class or the whole school, you would be showing your support for the thousands of emergency service staff and relief workers, as well as the victims of this terrible disaster.

If you’re planning on making it a school event, you can download a ready-made promotion poster here, to post around your school. Although please make sure you have permission from the schools principal before doing so. You can hold your minute of silence on whatever day you like (you just need to fill in the blanks on the poster) and if it’s just for your class, you only need the permission of the teacher you have at the time.

If you want to take it further and do a sponsored silence or just make a donation, visit the official Croix Rouge Française website at www.croix-rouge.fr or go directly to the donation page at www.bit.ly/CRF-Japon.

If you are going to organize this event in your school, or have organized it, we would love to know how it went and how many took part. Send us a quick email at thelyceetimes@gmail.com. If you include the name of your school, we’ll add it to the Japan Disaster page of our website. If your feeling sceptical about how many people would be willing to take part, don’t be. Even if no-one has been talking about it, they know about it and the chances are they want to do something about it! You’d be surprised!

Good luck do-gooders!

The Editor