Kids may ask: How safe am I?
For many children, public officials are the embodiment of security and safety. Athletic fields are symbols of togetherness and civilized rivalry.
But yesterday’s shooting will likely raise an important question in young minds, say local psychologists: “If a congressman can be hurt on a baseball field, how safe am I?”
“Baseball fields are a place of coming together and pleasure,” said Ellen Slawsby, director of Mind/ Body Pain Service at the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Now it’s unsafe.”
A gunman who reportedly was moved to violence for political reasons opened fire on a congressional baseball team comprised of Republicans, hitting the majority whip of the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise.
Since the incident, there has been extensive speculation about how it will add to an already hostile political climate. But for children — whose concerns are still apolitical — the event could spur new fears about personal safety, along with a reluctance to express opinions that could lead to dangerous confrontation.
“It brings fear into everyday lives,” Slawsby said. “Can anyone express their political opinions and feel safe? Unfortunately, this does raise the bar of anxiety.”
This could be especially true for children who live in areas prone to violence, whose parents have already instilled in them a natural skepticism of certain public places, said Jodie Kliman, associate clinical psychology professor at William James College in Newton, who specializes in trauma and family therapy.
“There’s not a child in the Boston Public Schools who doesn’t know somebody who’s been shot,” Kliman said. “Shootings are common enough that it’s a real concern.
“They might be thinking, ‘It’s bad enough in my neighborhood, and now for Congress members? Nowhere is safe.’ ”
To counteract some of these concerns, parents should stress that surrounding adults will work hard to keep them safe. And to avoid negative associations with political disagreements, they should resist the urge to discuss politics in violent terms — children cannot pick up on the nuances of hyperbole.
“The last thing you’d ever want to say in front of child is ‘I could kill so-and-so,’ ” Kliman said.
She said parents can ease some of their children’s anxiety by encouraging them to write a get-well letter to the injured congressman, even if the child’s family does not agree with his politics.
“We have to teach them to develop curiosity about why people on the other side of the divide see things the way they do,” Kliman said. “Then maybe we can let go of the anger and just have conversations.”