Explaining Sept. 11
Every year my husband instructs his sixth-grade students to write essays about where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, and how they feel about the day the Twin Towers fell.
Last year, though, there was little to write because there was nothing to remember. His students were babies when the planes flew into New York and Washington, D.C. For the first time, my husband taught about Sept. 11 as something that happened in “history.”
On this year’s 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, he will once again discuss the events of that day to a post 9/11 generation. They’ve seen pictures and heard stories, and some were even affected by the tragic day, but it’s just another day in their history book instead of their memory.
This is so strange to me because the events of 9/11 are still so vivid in my mind. I was in college, huddled around the TV watching as the first tower fell. It took me a while to fully comprehend that there were still people inside that building. A tragedy of that magnitude was something I just couldn’t understand even though I saw it unfolding on TV.
And while the images of that day are seared into my memory, so is what happened after the last plane crashed in Pennsylvania. People pulled together in a way I’ve never seen. Blood donation centers were full. America saw a surge in volunteers. Some people even returned to religion or to God. And the American flag suddenly meant something significant and valuable.
It was a singular time — one I wish didn’t require a tragedy to create.
It’s also a time and a feeling I want my own children to understand. Even though my husband’s students and my own children may not have lived through 9/11, I want them to appreciate what happened that day.
How can we teach our children about the evil and the good that we learned about on Sept. 11? How do you plan to keep the memory of that day alive?
Erin Stewart is a regular blogger for Deseret News. From stretch marks to the latest news for moms, Stewart discusses it all while her 4-year-old daughter crams Mr. Potato Head pieces in her little sister’s nose.
