Talking to Parents About Terrorism
When I was accepted into the Masters in Global Communications Program at the American University of Paris, my parents were initially thrilled to see my ambitions extend beyond indefinitely teaching English in Madrid, Spain. There, I was living comfortably, but clearly stagnating, after four years. Their excitement for my new prospects was soon replaced by a fear for my well-being in the wake of the numerous terrorist attacks in France and across Europe. In the weeks leading up to my relocation to Paris, my mom attempted to pressure me into promising to stop using public transportation altogether, attending concerts and music festivals, drinking in bars, sitting in cafes and spending time in public places. Admittedly, I could have handled these conversations more delicately. Instead, I was belittling, combative and dismissed her as being out of touch with reality.
After dodging her calls for a few days, we spoke again more calmly and without bickering. We remained unable to see eye-to-eye but heard each other out and managed to have a rational conversation. Upon arriving at AUP and talking with my new peers, I realized that my mom's concerns were not unique to her and that generally, parents are influenced by a media system that has an agenda to get ratings and increase readers or viewership. I began to consider responses that would impart some peace of mind onto my mom and the other parents of the AUP community. Here are a few arguments that attempt to alleviate fears and reduce parental anxiety:
Present them with the statistics:
Terrorism in Europe is not currently at an all-time high. Based on its coverage in the media, one could easily be led on to believe that Daesh is the most powerful terror group to have ever existed, but this is not the case. In the peak of their activity, the Basque and Irish separatist groups, ETA and the IRA, were hitting targets with more frequency and causing more fatalities in Europe than Daesh has. The CDC reports that more Americans are killed per year by heart disease, cancer, misusing pharmaceuticals, our own police force, car accidents, lightning strikes, slipping in the shower, toddlers with access to firearms, hostile confrontations with deer, failed auto-erotic asphyxiation endeavors, elevator malfunctions and more. One can easily foresee that incidents involving fatal allergies will become more rampant as the cost of EpiPens continues to surge. If all Americans were to view the aforementioned causes of death with an equal priority as terrorism, by now we'd have resolved our issues pertaining to gun control, healthcare and police brutality.
Describe the precautionary measures that the school and the local government take:
Parents of AUP students should take comfort in knowing that AUP is a citadel whose guards meticulously inspect the bags and documentation of all those who enter. Neighboring the academic buildings are several foreign embassies and their security teams. The Parisian police are active on Twitter and utilize this to quickly update the public on any events that require them to use show of force. It is not uncommon for threats to turn out to be hoaxes and when this is the case, the police are quick to inform and placate the public. The transportation system is fast to halt and evacuate when passengers notice unattended packages or suspicious behavior. For better and for worse, there is an increased use of Orwellian surveillance cameras on the streets of Paris.
Communicate:
When I first moved abroad it was difficult to coordinate frequent Skype-sessions with my family. My mom and I created a system where we were perpetually locked in heated online scrabble matches (that I would always lose) and when I would take my turn once or twice per day, it would signal to her that despite my radio silence that I hadn't been swallowed whole by the abyss. It's easy to instruct parents how to download WhatsApp or Skype. If another attack, or hoax false alarm, were to occur, in all likelihood we would be privy to it here before the media would relay it forward internationally and it is paramount that the parents hear that their kin are unaffected prior.
It isn't uncommon or irrational that family may lose sleep over their children moving far away, especially to a country that has suffered so immensely. The specter of the threat level hovers in the background while local and adopted Parisians go about their day-to-day lives. While undeniably, the world is a dangerous and unpredictable place, the attacks of the past year cannot be allowed to be what defines France in the global community.
