| The doctor
“The tough part is we’re all feeling afraid to some degree and we all bring baggage,” said Dr. Fred Kaeser, director of health services for District 2 (which includes 3 elementary schools within walking distance of the World Trade Center). Add this once-in-a-lifetime trauma, he said, to day-to-day kids might experience such as divorce, neglect, or abuse. The districts’ efforts have focused on the faculty, first. Teachers saw the explosion and people jumping from the Towers, quickly pulling down the shades so the kids wouldn’t see. “We start with adults because they have to help kids.” Tomorrow (Friday), he and a crisis team will be talking to teachers and faculty who were at Ground Zero on Tuesday. They tried to have a session today, but a bomb threat meant that people were evacuating buildings from 28th to 42d St along 7th Avenue, where the district office is located. It didn’t do much for teachers whose red flags were already up. “We could see people milling out of buildings through our windows and yellow caution tape. The superintendent of the building says we’re not ordered to evacuate, but if you want to leave, you can. I didn’t take another breath when entire faculty stood up and left.” So tomorrow on a building owned by a non-profit on 26th St, they will try again. By the end of the day tomorrow, he hopes to begin to talk about how the faculty can deal with kids. He echoed what Allen had to say about the need to talk honestly with kids about the events. But he also underscored the need to reassure them there is a wide support network, warn them about stereotypes, and make them understand the uniqueness of this event. But parents and teachers also shouldn’t dwell too much on the tragedy. “We don’t want to belabor this,” he said. “By and large, we’ll see kids very willing to get back to routine.” But he will set up spaces for kids and teachers who feel that they want to get away: safe rooms with counseling professionals. He also says his crisis team will reassure teachers and kids who need more help that they are connected to therapeutic agencies, private and community-based organizations, and hospitals. The crisis team has been well-trained, says Kaeser. “We’ve had murders, sex assaults, and major high-profile deaths in our district.” The kids are tough, too. “When we talk to kids about a crisis like this, they’ve handled crises that have nothing to do with this. They’re used to it in their life. People are jacked up against their walls, they’ve seen people being held up.” He goes on, “Trauma is not new for these kids. Everyday trauma is the norm for many children, particularly here in New York City. It’s the day-to-day social poisons that are destroying kids.” But, luckily, the schools are so well connected to therapeutic agencies that Kaeser says, “Gone are the days when we scrambled to find name and number for referral.” The good thing is, he says, “you look at images in media and you see people down there working, digging, crawling, hauling bricks and concrete to save people. There are more life-reinforcing images in media than really the destruction.” What Kaeser worries most about is trauma handled badly. “This has the potential to spawn anger in kids. I’m afraid that if trauma is not dealt with well, it can lead to violence.”
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Also Inthefray > Part one | Monday, October 8, 2001 Part two | Tuesday, October 9, 2001
The doctor |
