Terrorism and War: The Stress it has on Children

My 9/11 Story

"EVERYONE GO INTO THE HALLWAYS AND AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS!" This was the message that the loud voice over the intercom was directing our 6th grade classroom to do. I can remember how panic my teacher was, using her cell phone to try to get in touch with her friend in New York, trying to see if she made it out okay from the daycare that was across the street from the Twin Towers. Two Hall monitor rushed into our rooms, and begin to move our class into the library, and all I can hear them say is, "Keep them away from the windows." As we are walking down the hallway of my three story elementary school, crowds of children are sitting on the cold white floor in silence, trying to wrap their small brains on what in the world is going on. Finally we walk into the library, and our class is directed to sit next to the holiday book shelf in silence. Finally my teacher walks in, surrounded with other teachers saying, "No it really happened, they crashed a plane in the twin towers! But my friend is okay, she called in sick today." The counselor turns on the news, and we watch as the plane crashed in the Twin Towers. As a Texas 6th grader, I had no idea what the Twin Towers were, and I really had no idea what terrorism was. As we all sat and watched the news, the principle rushed in the library and said, "They are locking down the Capital, Governor Mansion and the surrounding buildings. They are taking terrorist precautions." When the principle said that, I begin to cry because my mother worked next door to the Governor's Mansion. Other children whose parents worked at the Capital begin to cry as well, because we all thought that our parent were going to die. The counselors rushed all the crying or children who showed high distress into the their offices, as soon as we went into the offices, Firefighters arrived at the school, and directed our principle to lock down  and make sure everyone was on the first floor and away from windows because our school  was about five blocks from the State Capitol, and we were in "bombing range." I was so afraid, all I wanted was my mommy, and we couldn't get in touch with her. She didn't own a cell phone, and because her building had taken terrorist precautions, she wasn't at her desk and couldn't answer her office phone. This drove me crazy! I felt that something was wrong because all the other children could in touch with their parents but me.  So I sat in a corner and cried, because I had no idea what was going on, and the one person that I trusted to take care of me, wasn't around to help me through this. One of the counselors saw, me and just walked over to me an held me. I was so afraid I was shaking. She just held me and rocked me back and forth, and said, "It's going to be okay." In about 2 hours, parents begin to pick up their children. I watched as parents and children rejoiced when they saw each other.  Finally when school was out, my mother came running in the door. She grabbed me tight and kissed my cheek. I felt relieved and gratitude to Jesus that He brought my mother back to me. On the way home, I shared my day, and my mom shared her day of spending the afternoon in the basement of a government building. Even though we were thousands of miles away from New York, in Austin, Texas, we still experienced some of the ripple effects, of a National tragedy, that impacted our lives forever!

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Paris, France is so beautiful to me, full of romance and pasta. When I heard about the Charlie Hebdo Newspaper station being attacked by terrorist, I was shocked and in disbelief. Charlie Hebdo was a newspaper station, that was attacked by two men for publishing a controversy cartoon with Muhammad. The attacked left 12 people dead. After the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared a "War on Terrorism."  This "War on Terrorism" is to find, stop and defeat terrorist, to provide safety for the France.

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The way that terrorism and war provide stress for young children, it takes away from one of the basic needs of children, which is the need to be safe. Terrorism and war has so many factors, that it is hard to narrow down one effect that is had on development. I just know that if children are always worried about their safety, how can they ever learn and thrive in their development? Basic needs have to be met first, before learning can occur.

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References:

1. Bilefsky, D., & Baume, M. D. (2015, January 07). Terrorists Strike Charlie Hebdo Newspaper in Paris, Leaving 12 Dead. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting.html?_r=0

2.Schiavenza, M. (2015, January 10). France Declares Its Own 'War on Terror' Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/france-declares-its-own-war-on-terror/384409/