By Ayesha Begum
As UK terror arrests reach a record high, its the youth that are becoming the most damaged, with cracks in their psychological well being.
Following the Manchester Arena bombing, many children and adults alike attempted to continue to hold their grasp on life in order to overcome, or at least dilute, what they had experienced. After an attack at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people including children and injured 116 more, city pulled together to the tune of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ by Manchester’s own Oasis to support one another. After almost a year later, dance group, ‘RISE’, emerge on Britain’s Got Talent after five years together with a special member alongside. Thirteen year old Hollie Booth performed with the rest of her group as she joined in whilst in her wheelchair. But what is so special about this? Not only did her group make her centrestage, they adapted the dance solely around the wheelchair so that Booth, whose aunt was killed in the attack, felt included; Booth had broken her legs in multiple places as a result of this terrorist attack and, although the rest of the group are able-bodied, they all danced with wheelchairs. Before they had the chance to perform, both the audience and judges were moved by her story, and this only increased once the audition was completed. With two standing ovations and judges joining her backstage, Booth was certainly emotional. From the innovative performance to the shirts branded with the Manchester Bee and slogans of ‘hope’, ‘strength’ and ‘peace’, this performance has revived images and memories some may not be able to escape from, but, all downsides have a positive outcome.
This incident shows that young people have been heavily affected by such terrorist attacks; the recollection would follow them throughout their lives. The ‘Run, Hide, Tell’ campaign was created to keep everyone safe and some might say this is more important than ever as people use social media to spread the message instantly whilst potentially endangering themselves. Groups such as NSPCC have opened pages advising parents on how to comfort and support children who are apprehensive about what they have been exposed to via social media.
Unfortunately, rising terrorism from religious extremists has lead to a rise in racist attacks and hate crimes towards British Muslims and other communities who, with no connection to Islam, are mistakenly marginalised into the same groups. This has lead to children and teenagers skipping school in fear that they may be subject to negative comments and violent attacks for reasons such as background and faith. Extreme fear can have a subsequent detrimental effect on children’s mental health; this can cause immediate biological reactions, such as alterations in stress hormone systems, which may persist for a longer period of time. Kidshealth.org claims that children exposed to prolonged periods of stress may face behavioural changes as well as physical effects such as headaches and stomachaches.
Despite there being daily, ongoing terrorist attacks and incidents occurring across the globe, they appear to be dismissed, perhaps as a result of bias in the western media. Iraq was deemed as the country with the most terrorist incidents by Forbes with 2,415 events in 2015 which caused 6,960 deaths and 11,900 injuries. Even with such large numbers, this death toll is only 30% lower than it was in 2014. Over 40 groups have enforced attacks upon Iraq since the 2003 invasion led by the USA in order to combat the evil forces, yet how can one fight evil with evil when more of the innocent are dying than the intended opposition? With the purest form of innocence lying within children, more than 1 million children have been internally displaced since January 2014 as a result of these terrorist attacks. Certainly such children do not deserve to see such sights that not even an adult could comprehend.
There were 1,715 terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2015; in 2017, Afghanistan civilian death toll was at an all time high in the ongoing 16 year war with a 9% rise of child deaths.
There were 588 terrorist attacks, which resulted in 4,950 deaths and 2,786 injuries in Nigeria; out of the 434 suicide bombers Boko Haram have deployed, 81 of the bombers
identified as children and teenagers.
Regardless of the thousands of charities, donation hotlines, and campaigns, these children are not being recognised and remain hidden under the soil. Is this another case of bias in the media and bliss ignorance?
From corruption to indoctrination, the youth of today are an involuntary victim of terrorist attacks or radicalised into carrying them out themselves.
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