South Florida mental health expert offers advice on how to help children cope with Mideast violence
MIAMI -- Mourners gathered Monday in a place of worship outside of Chicago to honor a young boy who was killed over the weekend in what officials said is a suspected hate crime.
Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, died after he was repeatedly stabbed, according to local investigators.
"I've never heard or seen anything this tragic happen," said neighbor Trinity Jasnicka.
The young boy, who was Muslim, and his mother were attacked on Saturday by their 71-year-old landlord, Joseph Czuba, according to investigators.
Authorities said the boy was stabbed 26 times and his mother was stabbed more than a dozen times while they were inside their home.
"This was an attack on all of us," said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago. "When this individual said, 'You Muslims all die,' this was a message not to the boy and the mother, this was to all of us. We were all stabbed that day."
Authorities say they believe Czuba attacked the mother and son because of their religion and what's happening in the Middle East.
The attack is just the latest to show up in social media as graphic images and stories flood the internet following the Hamas attacks and Israel's response.
Both adults and kids are finding these disturbing images online as they scroll on their phone, but the impact it has on children is incredibly concerning.
"Imagine if a 40-year-old is overwhelmed or confused, a 6- or 7-year-old who doesn't have that cognitive development can't assimilate all of that," said Dr. Gil Lichtshein, a psychiatrist based in Boca Raton. "That could be frightening and overwhelming to them."
Lichtshein says as events continue to happen involving the conflict in Israel, it's important for parents to keep an open line of communication with their kids.
"Allow them to vent and express why they're frightened and then be honest with them," he said, adding that adults should put parental controls and adjust the privacy settings on their children's social media accounts. He said young children shouldn't have to be subjected to the ongoing hate that's being spread online.
