Including death in school curriculum

Spanish researchers say if children were taught in school about death they would have a more «intense approach to life.»

Fabiana Siracusa and colleagues at the University of Granada in Spain say 76 percent of children fear death because their mothers avoid the topic. The researchers say children tend to believe in life after death and the belief is more common among girls than among boys.

The researchers questioned 288 children ages 8-12 and their parents, tutors and teachers, on their attitudes, fears and beliefs concerning death.

The study indicates all the children had some experiences related to death.

Eighty percent of the teachers report death is not included in the curriculum but 60 percent report talking about death with their students — mostly because a student’s relative died.

«If death were introduced in the education system, children would have a more real and intense approach to life, and many of the problems derived from the mourning process in the adulthood would be prevented,» the study authors say in a statement.

The authors say their study will be partly published in a book to be released soon.

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