When Children Are Witness to Terror

Jonathan Wolfe sensitively profiled Veronica Najjar, the principal at PS 89 both in 2001 and last week. Her wise words about caring for the children in her care should be read by parents, teachers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - really everyone. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/nyregion/new-york-today-terrorism-cri...

I'm greatly disturbed by those commenters below who are veering close to suggesting these kids deserved what they saw because they are Americans. Yes, there is horror and trauma happening all over the world every day of the year and yes it affects children. But it seems mean-spirited and possibly spiteful to link that to this particular story. It is quite appropriate that the Times covers this story about the effect of violence on children in its home town.

Children during the Partition of India saw the most brutal violence in addition to having to flee their homes and become refugees. My father as a 12 year old boy saw a man stoned to death by a mob. He ran from an apartment building which a mob of Muslims with swords was heading toward. Children have been witnessing much worse violence than what was seen in NYC last week, terrible as it was. The sad thing is that in the past no one thought to tend to their trauma, because the trauma for refugees continued and brief moments of witness were nothing compared to enduring hardship. The world has seen a lot of pain in the last century.

My daughter was a student at Stuyvesant H.S. on 9/11/2001. She sat in her classroom, looked out the window, and witnessed a plane tear through the World Trade Center Tower. As she fled, she watched people jumping from windows. These images and memories are so deeply embedded in my daughter's being. The statement below that "children barely pay attention", and that their "minds are wrapped up in their own childhood" makes not sense to me. The graphic and horrific images of evil-doing that children (and adults) witness can never be diminished. Perhaps writing off these horrific acts is a way to avoid the excruciating pain that accompanies them. The newish colloquialism, Compassion Burnout is perhaps an alternative layer of protection or padding, enabling us to function and move on in our daily lives. I find comfort in meditation and in just sitting quietly and allowing this 'in'. If we turn away, we are succumbing to terrorism. When I heard the names of those who died in last week's crime, my generalized and somewhat numb state changed to what I felt it should be - profound grief. An end note: please beware of xenophobia and to not hate.

we live in a city that experiences terrorism on a fairly regular basis, unfortunately. our children have all been witnesses to various events at different degrees of closeness. even the shock of hearing a bomb go off several blocks away can traumatize a child for years. they all have had to have a lesson from me while walking through the market of what to do in case of an emergency--to take advantage of being small and duck into the nearest stall and move under a table or behind boxes and wait very quietly until it's over. this is reality for children all over the world.

Most of the children play extremely real life video games that makes real life attacks seem normal. Parents should sit down and watch what these kids are playing. Violence is the new norm!

Your article brought me to tears for the well being of the children, families, and all the victims. It is my hope all of us might help bring about a safer life for our children with "kindness toward all." Each of us can enact kindness and the peace that goes with it to show we care.

This is the world not fit for children--for innocence--because of what those with power have allowed and the rest of us have not yet found a way to change. I'm sick at heart.

What happens when children bear witness to US military invasions, bombings, and assassinations? It's sad you don't bother to ask that question today. Perhaps these kids in NYC wouldn't ever bear witness to war, if the US stopped waging war all over the world.

On September 11th, 2001, I too was a child attending school in TriBeCa. What I witnessed that day did not destroy me emotionally, but it did bring to my attention how absurd this world is. I never thought that, years later, highschoolers and children would experience, in person, a similar tragedy. They will be alright. However, they will remember this for the rest of their lives. I wonder how long the world will be like this. I wonder how many more of these horrific incidents will occur. I wonder if future generations will learn how to tackle this.

Children are very resilient to these terrible events... Adults impose their own anxieties and concerns on children, thinking that the kids think the same way. They don't! Children barely pay attention...Their minds are wrapped up in their own childhood. Plus, with this young generation, they are bombarded with so much nastiness, wild images, and cruelty in their digital online and TV lives, these real shocking events, remain no big deal! Sad and Tragic.

America under Trump has become a living nightmare. I'm so glad my wife and I decided not to have children.

Children in the Middle East, Europe, and Burma etc, have been witnessing terror for decades, and we haven't bothered much about them, even when we create the terrors. We might ask them what they do, the Palestinians actually have mental health protocols to address this, no need to re-invent the wheel.

I offer sincere sympathy to the families and friends of those killed in the bike path attack. For those who are injured, especially those who lost limbs, I wish for strength equal to the task of recovery for you and your families and friends. I hope funding will be found to help pay your life-long expenses. This article is a reminder that attacks like this one using a rented truck as a weapon have victims beyond those identified in police reports. The broader community, especially children, has a memory which cannot be erased. I know these children will have resources to help them process what they saw and how they feel; many children in other neighborhoods see violence and do not have those resources so working to prevent violence is a worthy goal for healthy communities to pursue. I think special note must be paid to the killing by gun of Elizabeth Lee, "shot and killed allegedly by a man against whom she had an order of protection". Ms. Lee's killing by gun is such a routine failure of our ordinary protection services offered to people. We ought to be better than we are at stopping the type of alleged murder she suffered. Instead so much of our resources focus on the very rare, almost impossible to prevent, "lone wolf terrorist" who uses trucks, not guns. What percentage of people immigrate from his country and become terrorists in the US? So far just one. Of the thousands (millions?) of Muslims in the US, how many have used trucks to kill? So far just one.