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Sixth grade math class.
At the time, I couldn't comprehend how much that morning would subtly change the trajectory of my life forever. I didn't lose anyone on 9/11 and have been lucky not to in the wars since, but I wouldn't be where I am or who I am without the events of that day.
I was in high school at the time, the teachers didn't mention it, but the news got around school through word of mouth. Anyway, after school I went to a friend's house and watched the news with him and his mother for a bit.
Hmm, I've been thinking about this for the last day or so and I think your teachers should have told you guys. 9/11 was a pretty signifigant part of our history (as humans, I mean). It was the largest mass-murder and the greatest attack ever organized and just think about the fallout. I often read about signifigant events in history textbooks and wonder what it would be like to observe the changes that take place completely raw and in their entirity. It's almost... dissapointing... that you weren't made aware of what was going on as early as possible (early enough to feel the shock, helplessness and confusion and on such a global scale, as strange and unpleasant as that might sound - I think that it must be a rare thing that we experienced).Quote:
Originally Posted by Lokasenna
I was workin' my first real job at a mid-size computer company in the East Coast of the US -- not too far from NYC, actually. I hated that job. I had to dress like a banker and write web-content for a computer/banking company.
I remember going to the break room for like my 6th or 7th cup of coffee (I needed frequent "tedium" breaks like this), and they had the TV on as usual. But instead of the normal stock-market report shows that were on, the news was on and people were all standing around the TV.
I noticed that one of 'em was a VP, so I kept watching too -- thinking that I wouldn't get in trouble if one of the big shots was there watching. I think the first plane had already hit the tower before I walked in, and the talk was about that. Everyone thought that it was an accident.
Then this I remember for sure: I was drinking my coffee and talking with someone and watching the live coverage of the first tower smouldering and such, when we saw the second plane crash into the second tower. . . . . that was a profound moment: no accident. The guy next to me said, "it's no accident. What the ****?"
Then pretty much the whole company crammed into the break room and watch TV for hours and hours. It was weird because we were, partly, waiting form something more to happen. The Pentagon and the crash in the field. . . .
I agree. Teacher's always talk about, and hope for, teachable moments. That day was definitely one, even if it was just watching the TV. It was a horribly good experience as we fielded are questions off our teacher ("Who did this . . . why'd they do it . . . etc.) even if the teacher's answer was "I don't know" 90% of the time, as it was. I still remember my second hour teacher's name, a civics teacher, so it was definitely apropos for that class.Quote:
Originally Posted by JuniperWoolf
The most poignant part was seeing the towers fall. It was like I could feel my whole self fall with them.
For me it was seeing the individual people jump out of the windows. It was hard not to think about how much desperation it must take to convince a person to jump out of a 90 story window. They must have been terrified.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi
True, but on the other hand I can see the counter-argument. They didn't want to interrupt a day of teaching with something unproductive. They didn't want anyone who might have American relatives going into a panic.Quote:
Originally Posted by JuniperWoolf
As I said, 10 years on I'm still not sure how I feel about that.
I think it was irresponsible of teachers who forced classrooms of children to witness this. When you have a group of children, they vary according to their ability to process something like that. In any group of children, there are always some who go home each day to shock, helplessness and confusion, and they don't need more.Quote:
Originally Posted by JuniperWoolf
To tell children that they have to watch and remember every detail because they have a responsibility to future generations is wrong. The first responsiblity is to the children in front of you.
I think it depends on the age of the kids. Perhaps in elementary school it might have been appropriate for the teachers to tell them a terrible thing happened to some people who live far away and then what happened. Maybe wait until late in the day to tell them. It wouldn't be necessary to turn on the televison to make them aware.
I heard it on the radio while on my way to work. The DJ didn't know exactly what had happened, just that it appeared that a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I remember thinking "What?!" and feeling amazed, and doubtful. There was such a sense of unreality to it.
I got to work-I work at at high school-and did tardy duty in the cafeteria. The TV's were on and we knew something was happening, I guess at that point the second plane had flown into the second tower. I had first period off so I went to the library. At that time they had a huge TV there, and it was on, so I stood-and watched open-mouthed as the second tower fell. We talked about it all day long.
And then I went home and watched the news more than I have before or since, watched the pictures of the unbelievable massive destruction, the mountains, literally,of rubble, the stories that began to pour forth of how people lived or died or escaped or didn't, of thsoe who took hours to make it home, of the children whose parents never came for them, the mounting death toll, the pictures of the missing, the ravaged hope that the ones they loved were somehow still alive.
I remember having been at work. A colleague came and showed me a video on the Internet -- this particular colleague always made jokes and funny antics and such like -- and I thought it was some fake video clip. It was only a little afterwards when my boss came along and commented about it very seriously that I realized that it was real.
And then, nobody seemed able to do much work, everywhere people talked about it. I went home early that day, and we watched the news. It was first day of school for my kids, after summer holidays, too, and they brought shopping lists. But nobody went shopping that day ...
Yes, it's not good to conceal, but some thought should be given to the way a message is delivered, when and how.Quote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
And I don't think that a captive audience of even adults should be forced or made to feel an obligation to watch something like that as it's unfolding. At the time people had no idea what would happen next, what they'd be witnessing. I think the teachers wanted to watch it themselves and that was why they automatically subjected the kids to it. I mean, it would've been difficult for them to just leave their classrooms to go watch it.
I watch many movies and documentaries that have a very difficult subject matter, but there's a difference when the subject is put into some kind of context and some perspective given on it. For instance, I watched Ken Burns Civil War series which describes the battles in explicit detail and shows the real pictures. It was disturbing but in a way a program like that is healing because it shows that unfairness and suffering is a part of life.
And I learned about the "Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911," which was shown in Ken Burns New York documentary which to me was perhaps worse than 9/11, although fewer lives were lost. It upset me but it told the story of one woman who survived and went on to become an accountant and lived to be more than 100. So in a way, it was a good thing to learn about.
The whole reason for the event, (whoever perpetrated it) was to terrorize, and the media never delivers the actual events, there is always a spin. It's the way it's shown and the the way anchors talk, their voices, that bothers me.
You can't, nor should you, shield kids from reality. I feel it's much more irresponsible to try and keep them isolated from actual, real-world events.
Certainly when something major goes on in the world, everyone should know about it. And I don't think that a teenager should have been prevented from seeing it. (Although years ago news traveled slowly and life went on.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi
But if there's a car crash on the road in front of your house and bodies parts and guts are scattered about there's no reason to make sure to take the kids out to see it. If there's a lesson in it, such as the driver was drinking and you want to teach a teenager not to drink and drive, well maybe.
I personally don't think I'd be any better off today if I had watched all the coverage of 9/11.
I love history, myself. It's nice when you can see a few survivors, and that the world carried on in some way. The "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911" was an event that people learned from that brought positive changes in our country.
I'm troubled by the media. I heard that at the Olympics there was a luger killed, and they showed this guy flying into a pole and being killed, and they replayed it over and over and over. I think that's disrespectful and also makes viewers numb to a person losing his life. It bothered me more that the man was Russian, or something. Athletes from those countries are often desperately trying to escape their circumstances, and so they are different from our athletes who are seeking wealth and fame.
One thing I wish I could remove completely from my brain is all knowledge of Satanists and how they sacrifice infants and animals. Ignorance about that was bliss. I struggle some on Halloween now.
I was on the island teaching my third grade class. But I was way uptown in the 90s right across from Central Park. No one was killed in our school community. Amazing.