As you all know in Mexico there is a strong war between the
government and the cartels. Violence has struck everybody in some way or the
other. In my particular case I have a friend who personally experienced the
cartel violence along with her son. She was walking with her son to daycare at
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. It was like any other normal morning for Christina
and her son, all of the sudden, she hears a car skidding towards them. The car
was persecuting a truck and they happened to start firing their guns right in
front of them. A caregiver was nearby and yelled to Christina and her son to
hurry up, luckily they made it and were safe inside the school. From that experience
Christina’s son gets nervous when he hears high pitch sounds resembling those
of a gun. Sometimes he still has nightmares about it and wakes up frightened. Christina
and her son coped with that stressor just like any other family in Juarez,
trying to forget and be aware of their surroundings anywhere they go.
It is important to
mention that many middle class people in Juarez moved to El Paso as refugees
for the inconsolable violence in Juarez and started a new life. Those children
who migrated to the U.S. and have been exposed to some kind of violence due to
the cartels’ war or assault violence may suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Here is a little piece of information about what is going on to those kids at
El Paso.
Mental health and judicial experts
say that children from Mexico attending schools in the U.S. can be just as
vulnerable to PTSD after being exposed to beheadings, mutilated bodies lying by
their schools or hanging from highway overpasses, gun fights, family and
friends murdered or disappeared, or having actually been victims themselves.
The toll may be an unexplored explanation for truancy, behavioral issues, poor
academic performance, and inability to concentrate in class.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/06/13/mexico-violence-creates-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children/#ixzz27tTpKj29
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/06/13/mexico-violence-creates-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children/#ixzz27tTpKj29
How awful for your friend and her son! I am so glad to hear that they were able to make it safety! I am sure that there will be lasting effects from that experience for her son, as well as for her! If we could only make everyone understand that effects that these types of situations can have on children and on the future because of those effects, maybe some of the violence would end!
ReplyDeleteI can see how an event such as this one could have a long-term effect on someone (especially an innocent child who is not even aware of what's going on because he's too young to understand). I hope this does not affect him as he continues to grow and development throughout life. I think we all experience some type of life-threatening events in our lives. Its the way we choose to cope with it that determines the outcome. Hopefully, he will be able to turn this traumatic indident into something positive when he gets older.
ReplyDeleteWow, I've heard about these kinds of situations but have not known anyone personally. What an awful situation for your friend and especially her son, I hope that eventually he will be able to get passed this and be able to use it as a learning experience.
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