In the days leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 today, the public has been barraged with no less than 40 televised programs, countless news and magazine articles along with the steady drone of commentators speculating on the significance of that date in history.
While the events of 9/11 stand out as real and vivid memories for adults and former high school students now in their late 20s, for most students in kindergarten through Grade 12, that fateful Tuesday morning represents a disturbing chapter in American history.
To broaden their understanding, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers sent a letter to school officials and teachers urging them to help a new generation understand the terrorist attacks and what they have meant for the United States.
Although many of today's high school students were too young to grasp the enormity of what had transpired on the East Coast that morning, they sensed from the gravity of the media coverage and conduct of adults around them that something immensely significant had happened.
"The attacks changed everything. Our innocence was gone because we had just learned that there were terrorists in this world that would stop at nothing to hurt us," said 15-year-old Sam Joseph of Fond du Lac.
"All children across the board respond to the adults in their world, taking their cues from how the adults respond," Doll said.
Fond du Lac High School student Courtney Rademann, a second-grader at the time, vividly remembers her mother's reaction to the news that the World Trade Center had been hit by a hijacked airliner.
"She was literally sick to her stomach because my aunt was supposed to fly to New York that day and she didn't know what flight her sister was on," Rademann said. "So throughout the day everyone was living in fear, especially since we didn't know who was on those planes."
While the events of 9/11 stand out as real and vivid memories for adults and former high school students now in their late 20s, for most students in kindergarten through Grade 12, that fateful Tuesday morning represents a disturbing chapter in American history.
To broaden their understanding, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers sent a letter to school officials and teachers urging them to help a new generation understand the terrorist attacks and what they have meant for the United States.
Although many of today's high school students were too young to grasp the enormity of what had transpired on the East Coast that morning, they sensed from the gravity of the media coverage and conduct of adults around them that something immensely significant had happened.
"The attacks changed everything. Our innocence was gone because we had just learned that there were terrorists in this world that would stop at nothing to hurt us," said 15-year-old Sam Joseph of Fond du Lac.
Taking their cues
Depending on children's developmental level, young children respond to trauma by the cues they pick up from the adults around them, said psychologist Matt Doll of Agnesian's Doll and Associates."All children across the board respond to the adults in their world, taking their cues from how the adults respond," Doll said.
Fond du Lac High School student Courtney Rademann, a second-grader at the time, vividly remembers her mother's reaction to the news that the World Trade Center had been hit by a hijacked airliner.
"She was literally sick to her stomach because my aunt was supposed to fly to New York that day and she didn't know what flight her sister was on," Rademann said. "So throughout the day everyone was living in fear, especially since we didn't know who was on those planes."
No comments:
Post a Comment