Posted on 09/11/2009 9:54:40 PM PDT by greatdefender
Three years ago, Julie Fox commemorated 9/11 with her students by asking them to write journal entries recounting where they were when the planes hit and how they felt at that moment.
But the Norwell High School social studies teacher has had to retire that assignment. Too few students remember the day, the succession of ever-worsening reports, the horror of the World Trade Center towers cascading into dust, employees fleeing the Pentagon, and investigators combing through the wreckage in a Pennsylvania field. Now, instead, she spends class time on Sept. 11 explaining the basics of what happened that day and why.
Its almost like teaching the Civil War, Fox said.
For many, Sept. 11, 2001, is still a day vividly recalled, its details indelibly etched in minds. But on this eighth anniversary, a growing number of schoolchildren are entering classrooms with little or no memory of the days events, propelling teachers and school districts to grapple with how to teach a topic inexorably evolving from a current event into recorded history.
We used to be able to use 9/11 as a touchstone. The students recognized it as an event they lived through and that affected the way that they lived, said Robby Chisholm, senior program director for history and social studies for Boston public schools. Now we view it as an opportunity to have a historical discus sion.
Monica Castro of Roxbury, a 14-year-old freshman at the South Boston Education Complex, is among the ranks with little recall. She was 6 at the time of the attacks and has learned about them since from teachers; however, yesterday she was not sure who committed them.
I forgot - the Muslims or someone, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Time marches on. I was born in ‘45, I don’t remember anything from personal experience about the Korean war.
What’s the point? Teach 9/11 as history to those too young to remember.
Then her students are idiots - I had several young homeschool friends tell me today where they were and what they were doing at the time and most were in elementary school.
I was born in ‘63 and I remember the moon landings and a lot of Vietnam.
How could they not know about it? My 13 yo niece remembers, my almost 11 yo nephew remembers the planes that knocked down the buildings and my sister has since made sure he knew more about that day, both my 15 yo and 17 yo nephews knows about that day?
It has to be video games, internet, twitter, facebook, myspace, text, IM and etc., right?
I can't get my 10 and 12 year olds to sit down for O’Reilly for five minutes to save my life.
This is not new. A lot of people are like this, especially women. I used to work with a lady who grew up during the Vietnam War, had friends and relatives that fought in Vietnam. She openly admitted she knew nothing about Vietnam. She giggled and said, “Now which one was that, the one in Europe?”
The twitter generation...what didn’t happen yesterday doesn’t matter.
But it happens to all of us in this fast world. I woke today feeling blah about things, because of the anniversy..then sure enough...my cousin wrote a blog capturing my feelings...what can you say to a generation that will FORGET or BLAME AMERICA?
pathetic... pick up a damn book... her parents should feel ashamed...

Those that don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.
Not too many 15 year old sophomores had much of a world view at age 7.
I election and an you but remember saying good by to my dad
when he left for the first yrs of the Korean War.
In elementery school remember Ike, Hungarian uprising, Cold War with Russia, etc.
Was under 13 but remember following the 1960 election and the returns on election night.
The kids in the article are typical of the recent decades
and their parents are no better.
That is true, a first grader might not remember everything about that day, but they have had 8 years of reminders and ceremonies and teachers talking about it to “refresh” their memories.....
I have to say I find it difficult for a 6 year old to remember where they were a certain day at a certain time.
As for me, I was in my third period English class, 3rd year in high school, when a kid came in and announced it in class. I will never forget.
I have never forgotten what my then almost 8 yr old grandson asked me on 9/12/01.....after telling me his Mom was always watching it on TV.....”Why do they want to kill us?” Luckily, I had an answer.....”There are evil people in this world.” I KNOW he (now nearly 17) remembers.
I was 6 during the start of Gulf War 1 in 1990. I remember sitting down as a family eating dinner, and we were watching the nightly 6pm news on our kitchen tv when it was announced we were going to war. My dad said to my brother and I, “Boys I want you to remember this day, and what you were doing.” To this day, I remember sitting there eating dinner, while Peter Jennings was announcing that the USA was going to war against Iraq, and the Presidents address.
Learn the video games, and tell your kids that if you beat them, they watch Beck for a half hour.
Hopefully you won’t have to do that too many times until they set aside an hour during the week to watch him every day.
I remember media reports from back then, about some parents sheltering their children from the horrors of 9/11.
I still remember Ancient Rome.
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