Pamela Cantor M.D. Quoted in The City on 9/11 and COVID Mental Health Response

Image credit: The City

Turnaround for Children Founder and Senior Science Advisor, Pamela Cantor M.D., was quoted in The City article, “Lessons From NYC’s Children of 9/11 Help the Kids of COVID as School Resumes.”

Written by Samantha Maldonado, the story examines the valuable lessons from the 9/11 terror attacks on how trauma manifests in students and how schools can offer mental health support in the era of COVID-19. The article features insights from former New York City students, service providers and experts on the aftermath of the events of 9/11 and how schools responded.

Noting how, unlike 9/11, COVID provided no “ground zero” in pinpointing the impact on young people, Cantor states:

“The orders of magnitude of traumatic effects of COVID are way far greater than was the case for 9/11,” said Dr. Pamela Cantor, founder and senior science advisor of Turnaround for Children, and an author of a study on the impact 9/11 had on New York City school children. “But nonetheless, the 9/11 message was that for children, what causes fear for them is local, it’s what’s immediately in their environment.”

The article goes on to cover the plans the city has in place to respond to the crisis and how concentrated efforts are needed for all students going forward, not just those who show signs of distress.

This article has been republished in Chalkbeat and The 74. Read the full story here.