From USA TODAY: “‘After viewing the videos released this weekend, we are all witness not only to a little girl in profound crisis and a family in the throes of interpersonal violence, but also to a community that is overwhelmed by toxic stress,’ said Deb Rosen, executive director of Bivona Child Advocacy Center. ‘These concentric rings of trauma must be met with compassion, empathy and unconditional support.’
‘That child deserved to be treated as a child, as an innocent,’ Rosen said. ‘She deserved to be reassured that she would see her father soon, the one thing she repeatedly asked for. She deserved patience, to be talked to at eye level, called by her name. These are the elements of human communication that we refer to as āde-escalationā and they are to be expected when adults engage with children.’
What is clear in the video, Rosen said, is that this child was caught up in a biological response beyond her control. To expect a 9-year-old to be able to overcome that biological response for the sake of compliance demonstrates a lack of understanding.”
