Beyond the Headlines: Unseen Consequences of the APS Peshawar Attack

• Amna Shahzad
• Sep 30, 2024
• 2 min read

The APS Peshawar Attack, a horrifying event in the history of Pakistan, happened on 16th December 2014. On this day, terrorists stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar, where around 200 students lost their lives. This brutal tragedy did not just result in the deaths of young, innocent students but also left deep psychological scars on survivors as well as the broader student community of Pakistan.

It has been 10 years since this incident, still many students were subjected to severe emotional trauma and distress leading them to face long term mental health challenges. The weight of tragedy bore scars of violence and stress. Students who survived as well as the overall broader student community pay a high price in academic terms.

Delving deep into it, Al-Jazeera highlighted an interview saying that students were unable to perform well in the school after the attack due to physical trauma. It was hard in coping back to studies and no proper healing initiatives were given to them. Moreover, due to this, it highly affected their grades resulting in rejections from their universities of choice. Linking this to what we also studied in class, there was no proper initiative taken by the government or school itself to provide additional focus to students studying in the same school. Such as ‘integrated program’ could be implemented providing survival skills and help students with physiological problems. This psychological effect was not just onto students but passed on to teachers as well. In one of the interviews reported by The News stated that “After the attacks, the administration was no longer in charge of school affairs,” Mohammed Ismail, a former APS mathematics teacher who taught grade six to eight, told. 

Another hidden struggle which was highlighted was that APS Peshawar became the “PR Platform” for upcoming governmental parties to gain votes from the citizens by visiting this school as a part of their PR strategy or manifestos. This in result created a lot of distractions for students unable to focus on their studies. They were forced to leave class in middle for gathering of ceremonies etc. This highlights how the educational landscapes which are affected by terrorism, continues to bear a long- term side effects on student’s performance, attendance and overall well-being.

This Prompts a critical question that why didn’t government took comprehensive measures to address the psychological trauma experienced by these children and ensure their well-being? I remember that safety measures activities such as emergency drill rehearsals were done in almost all schools to equip students with precautions to take in place of terriost attack but the effort should have extended beyond merely providing precautionary measures and rebuilding the physical infrastructure of the school. A holistic approach is required, focusing on the mental health recovery and return to normalcy for both students and teachers. Post-attack well-being initiatives should have encompassed psychological support and resilience-building programs for educators, recognizing their vital role in the recovery and long-term rehabilitation of the school community. These measures should not be limited to APS Peshawar attack survivors but to entire student community of Pakistan, ensuring that all students have a access to mental health resources and emotional support to thrive.