Enhancing Existential Thinking through Death Education: A Qualitative Study among High School Students

Abstract

The censorship of death-related issues is widespread in contemporary Western culture because the boundary between death and life is substantially managed in medical areas. In the context of Italian educational initiatives, to remove this limitation, 215 high school students in Southern Italy were educated on death through conventional and informal lessons. The students answered a questionnaire with open questions to survey their emotional and reflective experiences. Their answers were qualitatively, thematically analysed to explore how the representation of death can follow a death education course, and if this experience can be managed without harmful effects. The students’ answers narrated how the course reduced their anxiety linked to these themes, on the one hand improving communication between peers by making it more authentic and empathic and, on the other, providing alternative perspectives on life. Indeed, the project offered an opportunity to discuss something strongly heartfelt but rarely faced, and the survey confirmed that the research objectives were fully achieved.