A study by Lancaster University and the National Emergency Trust (NET) has found that young survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing have received little to no support.
Twenty-two people died and hundreds were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a homemade device in the foyer of Manchester Arena as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.
The university and NET launched an online survey in August 2022, asking children and young people who were caught up in the attack to share their experiences. The organisations said more than 200 people had taken part in the research, all of whom were under 18 at the time of the attack.
About 150 of those who responded had been psychologically injured but about 60 had not received any professional support, about 25 of whom also stated they had never even been offered it. The study also found that nearly a third had received no professional help over a year after the attack.
The research group found that help offered by teachers, counsellors and GPs had “inadvertently caused more trauma”. One of the victims said they had been told by a tutor that they should “take the attack as a positive experience”, while another victim who asked for help was brushed off as “hormonal”, and a GP totally dismissed another. NET chief executive Mhairi Sharp concluded that there had been “a glaring gap in knowledge about how UK disasters affect children and young people”.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these kids for a moment. In the weeks that followed the attack, they put on the TV or picked up a paper to see and hear politicians and journalists tell them that “Islam is the real victim here”. They probably heard everyone tell them “you were lucky” because they didn’t die. Then had to endure the sickening sight of the candlelit vigil where everyone “spontaneously” started singing “Don’t look back in anger”.
These youngsters have the right to feel like victims because they are. They have the right to look back in anger, and the right to be furious at the worm-tongued teachers, tutors and counsellor who tried to put a positive spin on the worst experience most of these youngsters will ever have. Yes, the government and such types pay them lip-service by calling them victims but, as we are finding out six years later, they are in effect being told to shut up and put up with it.
No doubt half of their torment comes from having to be guarded about what they say about their attacker and his beliefs for fear of the teacher or counsellor chastising them for not wholeheartedly embracing multiculturalism. The Homeland Party would address the elephant in the room – we would allow them to speak their mind and get what they need off their chest.
