Evaluation of Şehit Halil Özdemir Science High School students disaster awareness and attitudes towards disasters (Mersin/Tarsus example)

Turkey is a country where natural, technological and human-made disasters occur. The way to cope with the negative effects of disasters is possible by raising awareness of individuals and society against disasters, training and gaining disaster awareness. This research was conducted to evaluate the disaster awareness and attitudes of Tarsus Şehit Halil Özdemir Science High School students towards disasters. The population of the cross-sectional and descriptive study consisted of students (573 people) studying at the high school where the study was conducted in October-December 2023. No sampling method was chosen, but it was planned to reach the entire population, and 401 people were reached by applying the survey method under observation.Data of the research; A survey consisting of questions to evaluate students' opinions on socio-demographic characteristics, disaster, disaster management, disaster awareness, preparedness for disasters, attitudes towards disasters, and Disaster Attitude Scale (ATÖ) questions, which were created by the researchers by examining the literature, was applied. Frequency, t test, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, ANOVA test and correlation analysis were used in the statistical analysis of the data. When students' disaster attitudes were examined, it was determined that the cognitive, affective and general dimensions had an average above the average level, while the behavioral dimension had an average below the average level. ATO score averages were found to be higher for female students, 9th grade students, those who themselves and their families were exposed to disasters, those who lost their relatives in the disaster, and those who knew the disaster risks in the province and the location of the gathering areas. It was determined that there was a negative relationship between the students' grade level and the ATO score average, and a positive and very weak statistically significant relationship between the number of family members exposed to disaster and the number of relatives lost in the disaster and the ATO score average. Keywords: Disaster, Disasterawareness, Disaster preparedness, Attitude