Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200087
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO AP. 1.
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
Psychologists predict that parents and children around the country will struggle to cope with feelings of fear, helplessness and even guilt stemming from Wednesday's bombing.
``You expect certain places to be havens for our children,'' says Barbara Reisman, executive director of Child Care Action Campaign. ``When these kinds of things happen in places like this, it reinforces the sense of vulnerability perhaps more. This hits particularly close to home.''
Feeling helpless, parents become frightened for their children, psychologists say. They become restrictive and overprotective, afraid to let them out.
But that is exactly what terrorists count on - the ability to create overwhelming fear.
``What we have to do as parents is not let our children and ourselves be intimidated where we are afraid to go outside,'' says New York psychologist Harvey Schlossberg, who specializes in the effects of terrorism. ``The likelihood of this occurring is really pretty slim. It is much more dangerous for a child to cross the street.''
In other words, life must go on and parents must be strong, psychologists say.
In the wake of Wednesday's bombing, terrorism experts warned that Americans - born to celebrate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - may be forced to accept real limitations in their daily lives to prevent further terrorist attacks.
They said new countermeasures could range from car searches in underground garages to concrete barriers to bomb-sniffing dogs in public places to thorough personal searches at government buildings.
Citizens of other nations already have accepted restrictions on their personal freedom as the price they pay for some measure of personal protection. But it isn't clear whether Americans are willing to pay the same price.
``We are a vulnerable society. We are so lax and so hated,'' said Mike Ackerman, an anti-terrorism expert based in Miami. ``But if we get hit enough, then we have to accept some changes.''
Schlossberg advises parents not to convey to children a fear that would make them frightened to go out. Instead, depending on the child's age, he says, parents should confront the incident squarely.
``Parents should talk to their children and explain what happened, not to try to disguise it,'' Schlossberg says. ``Kids will hear about it. Parents should say, `This is something done by evil people and the purpose is to make us prisoners in our own country' and that it is rare and unusual.''
Barbara Willer, a spokeswoman for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, says: ``You can't let yourself get pulled into this `I've got to stay home with my child because a terrorist attack is going to occur' mentality.''
Still, she agreed that the bombing would wound the national psyche and preoccupy parents and children for days to come.
``As children hear that children in a child-care center were killed, they could fear: Will that be me?'' Willer said. ``Parents have to reassure their children, but I would urge parents to keep the TV off. Be very careful.''
In 1993, when Islamic fundamentalists bombed New York's World Trade Center, President Clinton argued that if terrorists ``can get us to change the way we live and what we do'' they have won half the battle.
Though metal detectors and closed-circuit cameras were installed in some office buildings, America picked itself up and went about its business.
But a terrorist strike in the American heartland raises new fears that no place - and no one - is safe. How can the pursuit of liberty and the need for security co-exist?
``Maybe the world has reached a new level of terrorism,'' said Stan Bedlington, a former CIA counterterrorism officer who left the agency last year. He noted that on the same day as the Oklahoma City bombing, poisonous gas was released in a train station in Yokohama, Japan, and a leading politician in Spain escaped a car-bomb attack.
``It's no longer the odd car bomb. There are now attempt to inflict mass casualties,'' Bedlington said. ``This society has to accept there is a major problem and perhaps accept some infringement of what was considered civil rights.''
Ackerman said three steps should be taken immediately to increase protection for Americans: better control of U.S. borders, increased spending on intelligence gathering, and consistent security planning.
Her eyes tearing, Glenna Markey, a Head Start director in Logan, Utah, watched in a Washington hotel lounge as television covered the bombing.
``The first thing I thought of were my three grandchildren; they're all in day care,'' said Markey, who was in Washington for a Head Start conference. ``My heart stopped. I thought, `This could have been my grandbabies.' I couldn't imagine what I'd do if this happened to me. I'd lose my mind.
``When we can't protect children, we're all doomed.''
Perhaps a rescue worker, searching for survivors, best summed it up the national reaction to the horror in Oklahoma City.
He got choked up talking to TV reporters and refused to talk about the children he had treated.
``I just want to go home and hold my kid,'' he said.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB