By MICHAEL BENAVIDES
Staff Writer
Experts from the fields of psychiatry and education say there are many ways for parents to help their children cope with anxiety over possible terrorist attacks.
Dr. Moustafa Shafey, a psychiatrist at CentraState Medical Center on Main Street in Freehold, said the fear that results from a terrorist attack can have a significant impact on children as opposed to adults.
“Adults and children are affected differently for it depends how mature a person is as well as the nature of the event,” Shafey said. “Adults tend to be more verbal than children, so as a result they [children] are not going to bring up the subject.”
Shafey also said that a reason that children tend to be more fearful than adults is because they feel that they will be hurt by a terrorist attack or that their parents will be hurt or killed.
“Children are very sensitive to the fear relating to terrorism for they fear that their parents will be killed or injured,” Shafey said. He said as a result of seeing a terrorist attack, parents have a tendency to protect their children from information regarding such an attack.
Terrorism hit closer to home recently with bombs in Elizabeth, the Jersey Shore and New York City.
Psychiatrist Dr. Steven Dyckman of East Brunswick said that parents need to talk to their children about such tragic events in a way that they can understand.
“Parents should try to explain things like this to their children,” Dyckman said. “Talk to the children at their own level or in a context in which they can understand.”
Dyckman also advised that it was important for parents to consider seeking professional medical help for a child who is still having problems coping with their anxiety.
“Anxiety disorders are more common than ever,” Dyckman said. “The best way to treat them is to take them to a psychiatrist as soon as possible.”
Metuchen School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Caputo said the schools are a great setting for helping children cope with the random acts of terror.
“We have trained administrators and counselors and child study team members who all provide social-emotional support,” Caputo said. “For a child, the classroom teacher can be one of his/her most trusted adults.”
He also said that parents are encouraged to contact their child’s guidance counselor for more information about coping with a terrorist attack.
“Many parents look to the schools to enhance the supportive environment nurtured at home,” Caputo said. “Our counselors frequently encourage parents to reach out to them for advice.”
Caputo said the parents should talk to their children about sensitive issues such as a terrorist attack.
“Whether air raid drills during the Cold War or seemingly random acts of violence or terrorism in today’s world, the challenges have always been there,” Caputo said. “Schools cannot take the place of family. However, we can provide lots of resources and, most importantly, a supportive environment for dealing with a multitude of scary and stressful topics.”
Superintendent of the Sayreville School District Dr. Richard R. Labbe said that he prepares the students and staff in his schools for potential threats by conducting monthly drills.
“We have very specific security procedures that we drill our students and staff on at least once per month to prepare us for what we hope and pray never happens in our schools,” Labbe said. “We also provide counseling on an as-needed basis for students and staff that we feel need such in the aftermath of a prolific event, particularly those that our students have been greatly exposed to due to over-sensationalism by the media.”
He said that the subject of terrorism as well as 9/11 have been built into the school’s social studies programs.
“I believe that the concept of terrorism is covered in our grades 6-12 social studies curriculum,” Labbe said. “However, in our 21st Century Skills classes that are taught by our middle school and elementary school guidance counselors, we focus more on avoiding the danger of ignorance by emphasizing the importance of tolerating and appreciating the differences in others.”
He also said that the school district made sure their middle school changed their class electives in order to ensure that the 21st Century Skills course is being taught to students.
“We also provided our upper elementary school with an additional guidance counselor in order for them to teach 21st Century Skills at least one time per month to each class,” Labbe said. “Finally, we changed our middle school electives in order to ensure that each student took this course.”
Shafey said that parents should be sensitive to their children’s feelings with regards to experiencing a terrorist attack. “Parents should approach their children peacefully and confidently in order to avoid children from becoming anxious,” Shafey said. “It also allows the children to open up to their parents.”
Law enforcement officers work diligently to prevent those attacks that parents and children fear.
When it comes to law enforcement coping with terrorism, Monroe Township Police Chief Michael M. Lloyd said that the police department needs to remain vigilant at all times.
“Our primary responsibility now, and as it has always been, is the safety of our residents and to those that are visiting our town,” Lloyd said. “The acts of terror and violence against police officers only heightens our vigilance.”
He also said that the public needs to do its part when it comes to reporting suspicious activity.
“We tell our residents to report suspicious incidents and suspicious persons as soon as they see something,” Lloyd said. “Our officers have high visibility throughout the neighborhoods in the township as well as all of our shopping centers.”
There has been increased awareness of reporting suspicious activities in towns such as Edison.
Edison Township Police Capt. Joseph Shannon said that the citizens in his town are also concerned about the risks for potential terrorist attacks.
“There has been a slight increase in calls from concerned citizens regarding observing suspicious bags or unattended items, particularly at the train station,” Shannon said.
Shannon also said that he has reassured the people of his town that they have procedures in place to deal with a such a threat.
“We do have procedures for handling most everything associated with a potential attack,” said Shannon. “We ease concerns by actively patrolling our jurisdiction, by remaining accessible and [being] visible to all the citizens that live/work and travel through our jurisdiction.”