Should Children Be Shielded From 9/11 Images on TV?

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is three days away, but images and discussion surrounding the topic have been shown on television, billboards, magazine covers, etc., for the last few weeks. Many of these images are graphic, shocking reminders of the devastation that America must 'never forget.'

But some trauma experts in Australia are saying we should protect the generation that may actually be most prone to forget from these images: children. Courier Mail reports some expert opinions:

Internationally renowned psychiatrist Beverley Raphael said the images in the lead-up to the 10th anniversary of the attacks could traumatise children, particularly those vulnerable after this year's floods and cyclones.

"If a child has had traumas, like the terror of the floods, seeing something new which is horrible or frightening can act on a child's vulnerability," she said. "There was clear evidence after the 9/11 terrorist attacks ... that some children developed post-traumatic stress disorder just from viewing images.

Raphael and Brisbane child psychiatrist Brett McDermott chair of Queensland Health's child and youth disaster response believe that it would be best if images from 9/11 were restricted from television during times when they could be viewing:

Associate Professor McDermott said pre-school aged children were vulnerable just by watching disturbing images on television, because they were too young to interpret them appropriately.

"After 9/11, we found many little children thought hundreds of buildings had fallen down because they saw the image from different angles, many times."

This call for restricting images of 9/11 for children comes on the heals of the controversial “We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom,” a coloring book that depicts images like killing Osama Bin Laden.

Watch this Reuters video (via Courier Mail) on the coloring book controversy:

<p><a href="https://video.dailytelegraph.com.au/2119614117/911-colouring-book-comes-under-fire" mce_href="https://video.dailytelegraph.com.au/2119614117/911-colouring-book-comes-under-fire">VIDEO: 9/11 colouring book comes under fire</a></p> <p>

[H/T Weasel Zippers]