Dr. David Childs, Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
What happened on that day?
On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 the al-Qaeda terrorist network successfully executed attacks against the United States using four commercial airplanes. The airplanes were used as missiles to commit suicide bombings on several key buildings in the US. The most damage was done in New York as they completely destroyed the twin towers at the World Trade center. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. The death toll increased even after the initial attacks, as additional people died of cancer and respiratory diseases related to the debris from the destroyed buildings in the months and years following the attacks.
Where were you during 911?
For some, they were wrapping up the third period of seventh grade science class. Others were starting out their morning working at the office when they received “the call.” Still others were starting a routine day on their college campus. But for others, they have no recollection of the events, because they were not even born yet.
Lived Experience or Recent History
These events are for some people a lived experience in recent history and for others a historical event that they read about in history textbooks or learn of the events on an online resource. Many people across the US did not live through the events we know today as 911. Lauren Camera has written an article to this effect in USA Today entitled How to Teach 9/11 to Students With No Memory of It. Because we are in a time period where there are more and more people that do not have a vivid memory or lived experience of that time period, there will be more and more people who honestly do not know what happened unless they are taught information about 911. One of the important aspects of the field of history is that it reminds society of significant past events (Good and bad), events that had such an impact on people’s lives at the time that it would be a travesty for people to forget. September 11 is one of those events in history, that as long as the world exists, we should always remember.
Conclusion
For many, it is obvious why we should remember and continue to make it a part of the collective memory of the United States (Much like the American Civil War or World War II). But a number of today’s young people may sincerely not understand why it is so important. That is why a good social studies education is so essential today, indeed the job of the classroom teacher is evermore critical. In many cases, the first time students will hear about September 11 is from their social studies teacher. Below I have provided lesson plans and resources that teachers can use to teach students about 911 and even get the conversation started.
Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans- 911 Memorial Museum
Middle School Lesson Plans- 911 Museum
9/11 Lesson Plans- National Education Association (NEA)
9/11 Lesson Plans- Scholastic
9/11 Classroom Activities- Newsweek
9/11 Lesson Plans- Teacher Planet
9/11 Lessons- Education World
9/11 Lessons- Tomorrow Together
9/11 Lesson- Teach Hub.com
9/11 Anniversary Teaching Guide- Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
Footage/News Clips
Remembering 9/11: Watch Today Show’s live broadcast of Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001
9/11 FOIA Videos: Street-Level Footage, Aerial Shots (Viewer Warning)
Second Plane Hits South Tower
Remembering 9/11 | Archive Footage We Will Never Forget
Articles
Photos: Remembering those lost on 9/11
The Names on the Memorial
How to Teach 9/11 to Students With No Memory of It
The 9/11 Anniversary in the Classroom- PBS News Hour
While America Slept: The True Story of 9/11
References
September 11 Attacks- The History Channel
September 11 Attacks- Encyclopedia Britannica
History of the 9/11 Attacks
Discussion Questions
1. Where were you on September 11, 2001 when the terrorist attacks occurred?
2. Why do you think important events are often so quickly forgotten?
3. View some of the resources provided above (Articles, footage, news reports, images). What thoughts and emotions come to mind as you examine the material?
4. What are creative ways teachers might begin discussion about 911? For those currently teaching in the classroom, what are lessons or activities you have tried that have been effective in teaching about September 11?
Even though i was only a child when 9/11 occurred, i still feel somewhat connected. This mass killing happened in my lifetime, and it forever changed the way anyone would live, travel, and speak in this country. The most important thing to remember about 9/11 is the way the country picked itself up afterwards. This nation came together as one and offered love and support to complete strangers. Neighbors checked on neighbors, strangers helped strangers, people from all different backgrounds took a stand and helped one another. As someone who came of age when the comradeship has all but disappeared, remembering this support gives me hope. If we can do it once, we can do it again.
**Note: i am in no ways excusing/overlooking the treatment of American citizens who were percieved as muslims. What happened, happened and can not be changed. I do, however, still think this is convincing evidence that the entire nation can come together no matter race/sex/class.
I was three when 911 happened. My mom just dropped me off at preschool. My parents remember exactly what happened that day. And I used to think I could remember too but honestly, I can’t. I don’t remember my mom picking me up early from school and I don’t remember my teachers’ reactions. I think it will be harder for students to understand the importance of the event when it happened before they were alive or could remember.
I was two when the attacks occurred, so I have no viable memory of the day. But my mom told me that when she found out, she took me out of daycare and sat at home with me while she cried. My mom is not an overly dramatic person, but that day she genuinely thought the world was going to end.
I feel that we, as Americans, tend to forget a lot about important events because we view them as independent from us. Granted, this is a generalization and I understand that this is not the same for everybody. Like Sensoy discussed, a huge part of our culture is individualism. We all have our own lives that we put as top priority. When bad things (or even good things) happen that do not directly affect us, they are not prioritized. Take the recent mass shootings for example, while the internet was full of concern for gun laws and the victims when they happened, nobody is talking about it now.
When 9/11 happened, I was only 4 years on therefore I don’t remember anything about that day. I think events are quickly forgotten because if you were not on the “scene” or somehow some way affected by it we tend to forget while others remember. Watching the “Second Plane Hits South Tower” was very disturbing watching the smoke from the towers fill the surrounds air with black smoke makes you feel helpless to everyone in those buildings who are in flight or fright. I think it is a good idea for us to keep educating about 9/11 because as people have said history repeats itself and I do not want to live through such a horrific scene.
This discussion definitely hit home for me because at the time of 9/11 I was only barely two years old which was definitely too young to discuss or even remember it happening. A similar issue arises when considering that I am not the only person who this topic had to be explained to. Pretty much every generation after my own will have to learn about 9/11 rather than having experienced that day and feeling all the emotions associated with it. So how can you convert those emotions to students in order for them to understand the impact of that day? I think one of the best ways that this can be taught is through the use of all different forms of education tools such as videos. It’s crazy to think that history from the 1950s and onward can be taught with videos of the instances actually taking place. One that I think encompasses all of the emotions associated with 9/11 is the video recorder recording one of the towers falling capturing the surrounding people’s reactions along with the billowing ash that engulfs the streets causing the cameraman to crawl under a car while recording and breath through his shirt in order to prevent suffocation. In short 9/11 will be a difficult topic to teach but I think the tools are there to relay these emotions associated with 9/11 to students.
September 11th, 2001 should be a date everyone should remember forever. That day was a great loss and a deep tragic for America. It is a day that made the country stand still and put a great fear into all of us. It is very important for each generation to keep educating the next about this day because the people we lost from that day should never be forgotten. Though it was an attack on America in an attempt to divide, I feel as the country came together stronger than ever. It feels as that was the only time where everyone set there differences aside and truly united. Even if it is not required to teach in our elementary schools our children still deserve to learn what happened. We lost a lot of brave and innocent people that day and it is up to us to keep educating the future about it.
When the terrorist attacks occurred on September 11th of 2001 I was at home with my father. Since I was too young to remember the events of that day, I gain my understanding from articles and perspectives from my parents. The emotions and thoughts that come to my mind after reading and hearing those perspectives are heartbreak and shock. I still cannot wrap my mind around the events of that monumental day. I don’t understand how people can be so evil to commit something so awful. I think that’s why important events are so easily forgotten… nobody wants to remember terrible things of the past. As unpleasant as remembering is, it is still important to reflect on the past so we can shape the future into something greater. Some creative ways teachers might begin a discussion about 911 in the classroom are to get the students to think about other monumental moments in their life and try to relate to the students how impactful 911 was to the people of the United States during that time. I think a discussion about how our country overcame that time would be a great way to encourage students that there is hope even after a time of trouble and terror.
Although I was alive during the 9/11 attacks, I was only 3 and therefor can’t possibly know anything other than what was taught/told to me. This is something truly terrifying, and hope we would never have to experience it again. We need to make sure we inform people and help them prepare for it, because in reality it could happen again. Educators should not hide when things like this are happening, it should be used as a moment for learning.
I was four years old on September 11th, 2001. I do not remember the event or where I was. In my education so far, I honestly do not remember being taught about 9/11. I was always in choir and I’ve sung in memorials about the event every year, and some years my school showed a video, but I was never taught about the event by a social studies teacher. Some years my school didn’t even talk about the event at all, they just had a moment of silence during the announcements. This being said, I have recently discovered that I didn’t even fully understand what happened. Until recently, I didn’t realize the planes were commercial airlines full of passengers. I thought the only people on the planes were the terrorists. I also didn’t realize other buildings were hit, I only knew about the twin towers. I have been seeing several posts this year on social media written by young people who don’t understand the importance of that day or why we recognize it still. If history isn’t taught, it is more likely to be repeated. 9/11 was one of the first times many people realised that attacks on America were even possible. It is very clear that young Americans do not understand this event today, and it is so important that they do. I hope more teachers will be inspired to talk about the event in class so more young people can understand it and it’s significance.
I was in school at this time but still pretty young. I mainly just remember the assistant teacher coming in and whispering something to our teacher. She ran over and turned on the TV and after a few minutes turned it away from the class and muted it, not allowing us to see. I really had no idea what was happening until I got home later that night and was eating dinner with the family when my parents told us. Overall my school was calm in this frightening situation and quite a few students were picked up.