9/11

My daughter was 9 months old on 9/11.  I was deeply grateful that she was too young to understand what was going on, and prayed that she never would.  I made the decision not to talk with her about it until she was much older, to allow her to hold on to a piece of innocence that would be lost forever once she learned about everything that happened that day.  That decision was taken out of my hands when her cousin showed her some "cool videos on You Tube of some buildings falling down".  I tried explaining to them both that it wasn't "cool" at all- there were people in those buildings.  At the time, they were still too young to understand it.  Once my son was born, I made the same decision, but last Friday he came home from school asking me if I knew that on 9/11 some buildings fell down.  I didn't bother explaining any of it to him, other than saying that it was sad and we'd talk about it later.  I know he would have nightmares if he were told the whole story at the age of 6.

My school is honoring "Patriot Day" on 9/11 by wearing red, white, or blue shirts.  At first it surprised me to see "Patriot Day" on the calendar, like a holiday.  It actually isn't a "holiday" as we think of one, but a national day of mourning, technically called "Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance".  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day).  I do not teach my young students about 9/11.  Having only taught 1st and 2nd graders in the past,  I have always felt that they are too young, and so their parents should be the ones to decide how much detail to tell a 6 or 7 year old.  (I have the same policy about "Where do babies come from?")  I'm sure the issue will come up in class, and I will acknowledge that it happened, and then defer the questions to their parents as I usually do.  There are always some in the class who know about it to varying degrees of detail, and some who know nothing about it.  Their parents can decide how to handle the level of detail their child can/should handle.  As for myself, I will be sure to review all of my school emergency procedures.  I pray that my students never have to know firsthand any kind of tragedy, but I want them to be as safe as possible if we do.

It is interesting to note that what we are now facing is an entire school of children who were not alive on 9/11.  To them, this day is just another day in history, something to learn about in Social Studies.  But to the rest of us, it isn't history at all, it's still present.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.”

-President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001