Terrorism Hazards - Essay Example

Terrorism Hazards: Division The threat of terrorism needs no explanation in the modern context. Almost every nation has at some point of time been faced with the threats of terrorism in the span of the last 10 years. The government has designed many programs to prepare the citizens in case of another terrorist threat. The media does its role in keeping the people informed on the various threats surrounding them. However this kind of information sometimes can have a negative impact on people. It creates a feeling of fear and despair among the people, which is not healthy as well.

Therefore just as it is important to be informed about the imminent threats it is equally important to have an informed viewpoint towards the information. In this article we will examine how this be done as a service to the public. John Tierney, in his article in the New York times talks about how Sept 11 attacks on America as “the start of a new age of international terrorism in America, but you wouldn’t know it from the six quiet years on the home front since then.” (2008). But these six years have been injected with many instances of terror scares that for some people the feeling of peace is a bit far removed.

Any unusual act of aggression is viewed as terrorism. Therefore if we were to design a terrorist awareness program, the following initial measures will need to be taken to involve the community as a whole in the process.Educate the community on Terrorism.The first task would be to educate the people on terrorism from more of an international point of view and help define the history of terrorism in their minds. Research shows that people as a community come together more during natural disasters than during technological or terror attacks.

The reason for this can be attributed towards a heightened fear of individual safety. Therefore it is necessary to gather the community to act as a whole and come together as a whole. There is a need for many counselling cells for individual and group session where people can share their insecurities and fear and gain more insight by communicating with people with similar thoughts and fears. Trained psychologists will serve as moderators for he group session. Special attention will be given to children and elder members of the community who feel a bit more helpless.

Stress on Preparedness:Once people are educated on what constitutes terrorism and begin to appreciate the fact that the various stringent measures taken by the government to check future attacks has resulted in the prolonged period of peace after the initial storm. Whilst doing this we will also instil confidence in the people by way of individual preparedness. There is a lot of information made available by the government on this topic and this information will be distributed to all and steps will be taken to ensure that people act on the information.

The idea is to instil the confidence that there is complete preparedness leaving no room for insecurity or fear of the inability to face a terror threat if ever it should come. Conclusion:Terrorism is not a new phenomenon and no matter what measures we take there is no telling when the next attack will happen. All we can do is be mindful and prepare the community and ourselves for future attacks. ReferencesNational research Council of the National Academies. (2006) Facing Hazards and Disasters: Understanding Human Dimensions.

The National Academic Press.John Tierney. The Endless Fear of Terrorism. The New York Times. January 16,2008. March 24, 2012. http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/the-endless-fear-of- terrorism/#