DH got an article published in the Newsday...

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DH got an article published in the Newsday...

It's an editorial and it's in today's newsday...

Students' 9/11 feelings are still fresh

September 8, 2005
It's now been almost four years. A lot of time to mourn, reflect and remember the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

That morning, I stood inside a classroom with students who had not yet gone home, stared out a window and watched clouds of black smoke rising in the distance. Other teachers and students were watching the images on television in the library. Others were making phone calls to parents for various, and obvious, reasons.

In the days that immediately followed, my fellow teachers and I were faced with the challenge of comforting students who were searching for answers to questions about why people hate New York, why the Twin Towers were destroyed by airplanes flown by terrorists, and why so many lives had to be taken.

The questions may have slowed over the last four years, but I've noticed that the generation of tomorrow still hasn't forgotten. When I ask my students, in grades nine to 12, to write friendly letters, most of them choose to continue expressing their gratitude to firefighters and policemen. Students continue to refer to 9/11 when they're using vocabulary words in sentences for homework assignments.

In their journals they pour out their thoughts and feelings about that morning, even when they're given a fairly broad theme, such as, "A Day in School I'll Never Forget." Before 9/11 that topic might have been transformed into an entry about crying the entire day in the first grade or winning a spelling bee in the fifth. But now students write about the day New York was attacked. The emotions remain fresh and powerful.

Just last year an airplane passed by the window during one of my English classes, and a student imagined aloud that the plane was purposely heading for the school building. The terrorists, I have learned, not only took thousands of lives on 9/11. They also implanted fear and other feelings into the minds of young students.

This year as school begins and Sept. 11 passes, I'm expecting similar discussions, questions, comments and recollections. Students who wrote songs or poems about the destruction of both human life and the Twin Towers, whether it was weeks after the tragedy or last year, will be creating new lyrics, metaphors and artwork about the same topic. And I'll be doing exactly what I've done for the past three anniversaries. I will speak with my students about what defines a hero in their eyes, and ask them who their heroes are today. They, in turn, will ask their own questions, which continue to haunt, puzzle and intrigue them.

Sept. 11, 2001, changed many students' perspectives on who serves as a great example of a hero. Many of them, since the tragedy, have looked at parents, firefighters and police officers as being their heroes. In the past, athletes, entertainers and celebrities were a lot more popular. But teens now seem to look more realistically and closely at the world. They understand better that mothers and fathers lost sons and daughters four years ago, and that children lost parents or guardians. And they are very aware that men and women in uniform gave their lives courageously in order to save others.

Students will continue to vent their anger and express their thoughts and ideas about war, terrorism, President George W. Bush, government, the film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and more, along with the four-year anniversary of 9/11. Even when teachers disagree, or find the students' questions make them uncomfortable, kids should be encouraged. As educators, we should be emphasizing to them more than ever that their voices and opinions are valuable. Children need to be seen and heard.

For our students who lived through 9/11, this will be one of the defining moments of their lives. The aftershocks of those terrorist attacks are shaping the world they will inherit. As we approach the fourth anniversary, both parents and teachers need to remember that - and to encourage kids to continue to remember and honor 9/11 in their own personal and meaningful ways.

Message edited 9/8/2005 12:33:37 PM.

Posted 9/8/05 10:37 AM