Death Education

Death education is presently viewed as an ongoing process throughout the life cycle, with the responsibility for it being shared by home, church, other community agencies, and the schools. Goals for a death education program include the following: to inform children of basic facts concerning the multidimensional aspects of death and dying; to enable individuals to be informed consumers of medical and funeral services; and to improve quality of life by considering personal values and priorities. Death education programs in elementary and secondary schools are not widespread, but they are increasing; college programs proliferated during the 1970's. The content in death education programs ranges from discussion of the death of a pet in kindergarten to study of human death, burial, and bereavement in the upper grades. Death education, by its very nature, lends itself to a multidisciplinary approach. For example, students in the middle schools examine life cycles in nature; the human life cycle; and the biological, social-cultural, economic, and legal aspects of death. Content in high school and college programs is quite similar, with differences primarily in depth of treatment at the college level. Content at the college level covers such areas as suicide and dealing with dying. Death education programs lack a standardized set of concepts, terminology, and guidelines and have no established place in the curriculum. A number of concerns must be dealt with. For example, what teaching techniques and materials are appropriate for death education? Research in implementing death education into schools and college programs is needed. (A bibliography is included which lists print materials and audiovisual materials on the topic of death.) (Author/NE)