Anti-terror campaign enlists kids

Three years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, most Americans appear to be doing a pretty good job of living normal lives in an era that seems anything but.

Perhaps too good, as it turns out. Several recent polls show that the number of Americans who feel the need to prepare for another possible terrorist attack has dropped significantly since the anxiety-riddled period shortly after 9-11. A Luntz survey in December revealed that only 14 percent of families had created any kind of a communications plan or emergency kit for the home that might see them safely through a few days of unexpected crisis and chaos.

So the Department of Homeland Security, fearing what it perceives as a growing complacency that the nation cannot afford, is launching a publicity blitz next month that will encourage children to confront their reluctant parents about the need for families to be better prepared in the event of another terrorist attack close to home. The “Ready for Kids” program, aimed at kids in grades 4 through 8, is part of September’s “National Preparedness Month” and coincides with the third anniversary of the terrorist tragedy. In schools, TV and radio ads, and on the Internet, youngsters will be introduced to a new Homeland Security mascot, an American shepherd dog to be named later in a contest, which will educate youngsters about how families can make emergency kits that include food, water, flashlights, battery-powered radios and other essentials should the power go out and the telephones fail. The program also will urge families to discuss where kids should go in an emergency, or how they might reach people who can pick them up wherever they are and get to safety.

Involving kids in the process of securing the domestic front seems to be a commendable idea, certainly better than some of the vague and confusing suggestions to come out of Washington lately, such as keeping our eyes peeled for suicide bombers disguised as homeless people watching the Fourth of July fireworks. But parents of middle-school children should also expect that this new Homeland Security spokesdog understands the value of restraint, or the experiment could create unnecessary fear and anxiety among the very kids its message is intended to reach.

Candy-coating the reason for the serious-minded campaign would be counterproductive, of course. Besides, it’s too late for that. Typical fourth-graders were about 7 when the planes struck the towers – young enough to have been shielded from the gruesome images unfolding on TV, perhaps, but old enough to have sensed the overwhelming horror, anger and grief their parents experienced so long afterward. Kids have spent three years hearing the names Osama and Saddam, of saying good-bye to family members who have gone off to war, of learning there are people who hate Americans enough to want to harm them where they live.

From what I’ve read, organizers of the campaign will try for a sensitive balance, one that sells kids on the practical value of emergency preparedness without focusing solely on the shadowy terrorist threat that has prompted it. The message will be that potential threats come in many forms, not all of them named al-Qaida. We must be as ready for hurricanes and earthquakes, too, as well as tornadoes, floods and ice storms.

So get prepared, you parents out there, or your kids will be happy to bug you until you do.