Double Agony

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But there are ways in which, perhaps inevitably, the tragedy has also widened the emotional range of the kids who were affected. Callison Stratton, 10, was standing in front of her loft windows with a friend who was taking refuge at the family's apartment when the towers collapsed. "Me and Lucy just broke down crying," says Stratton. On the one-month anniversary of the attacks, she says, "I'm realizing how much I didn't feel about other things, like Columbine. Now that I've witnessed this, I know how the people who witnessed those things feel. I feel very connected to those people." Callison has seen a change not just in herself but also in the people around her: "I've noticed that many people are looking up. Only tourists used to look up. But we're all tourists now because we're in a new world."

Which may be why some kids are welcoming the few signs of normality in the neighborhood. When Stuyvesant High School reopened in its own building Oct. 9, it gave student Jack Kirkland, 14, an immediate boost. It was the same school, but in a context that was made reassuring. "I feel better," he says. "It's like going back home and it seems like everything's going to be O.K. You see the site, but there are guards and police everywhere. You feel safe and protected."

And even the kids who don't have their building back are bonding with their hometown in a deeper way. Conor Stratton, 14, Callison's brother, says, "The only place I'd be right now is New York City because that's where my friends and family are. I'm not going to give that up because of terror. That's what the terrorists want, and that's not what they're going to get."