Today, the words “Never forget.” fill the air while Americans remember the devastating events that happened 15 years ago September 11th 2001. At HSE High school, the majority of the schools population was alive for the event. However, the age of those students alive for the tragedy were only 0-3 years old. For most, that isn’t old enough to remember how we felt when the hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers. Furthermore, the vast majority of the freshman class of 2020 are learning about 9/11 as a historical event that took place before they were born.
The words “never forget” are used somewhat carelessly as many of the students at HSE do not remember the moment in the first place. But then how are students supposed to participate in a day of remembrance to the people who had their lives taken from them far too soon? How will students across the U.S. show respect for the first responders who bravely put themselves in harms way to save countless lives?
Many educators, even some here at HSE, face a common struggle of how to teach students and give them more context of 9/11. The event has the power to enrage and fuel fires of hate but at the same time, the teachers who feel it shouldn’t be ignored, are plentiful. There are no national standards for how to address the attacks, which leaves how to go about teaching it to the educator’s discretion.
While in 21 states, there are guidelines on how to inform students, generally it translates to a few key facts about the event. Overall, a great number of students do not have a suitable understanding of what it is they are supposed to “Never forget.” So the question becomes, how do we improve the understanding of 9/11 to students too young to remember?
From the perspective of someone who doesn’t remember, I would advise students at HSE and all over the USA to ask to hear the stories of those who lived through 9/11. I would ask that you hear the words spoken by people who sat in fear the day the twin towers fell but made it through their day. I advise you to hear the booksellers who despite the circumstances opened their stores, and the educators who continued to aid and teach students despite the fear of additional acts of terrorism. I advise you to read and learn about the first responders who did not think twice before putting themselves in harms way to aid another. I advise the students who can’t remember the day that 2,996 American people were killed to ask the people who saw, heard, and felt the loss of so many American lives. Many of us can’t remember what happened that day. We can’t recall the fear. We don’t know what it was like to hear that multiple aircrafts were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. But there are teachers, parents, firefighters, pilots, workers, journalists and everyday people who surround the students at HSE and across the nation who have their own stories and experiences from that day. I firmly believe that there is no better way to learn and memorialize 9/11 than to talk to the people who lived it.