Ann's Blog On Teaching The Events Of September 11th

Ann Bergstrand's Blog #2:

"Educators Divided Over What To Learn From 9/11" (cnn.com, September 13, 2006)

Separating today from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is a mere five years, yet many secondary school students have very little connection to the events. Immediately following 9/11 there was a peak of interest on all subjects involved in the attacks. This, as might be expected, lead to passionate discussions about September 11th. A half of a decade standing between now and then would put most of today's secondary students in elementary school at the time of the terrorist attacks. Being at a young age when the events occurred would leave little opportunity for direct personal connection. Many educators believe that everything related to the events of September 11th should be taught in the history classroom. Telling teachers to teach about everything related to the events of September 11th leaves quite a bit of room for variation. Difference of opinion now sets in on what are the most important issues and concepts within that range. With a new school year beginning around the time of the yearly September 11th, teachers have begun lectures on other topics in the course of the United States history. This would give them little time to teach on the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The discussions of the events could range from lectures about the United States relations with the Middle East to the history of the Islamic culture. Teachers could go into depth about terrorist groups such as al Qaeda or they could give examples of how the United States has changed since the attacks. People continue to dispute about which topics are most important and how to present such a large topic into a one or two day lesson.

The country changed drastically after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Those events have impacted America in multiple ways. A one or two day lecture could barely scratch the surface of everything involved. In my opinion, studying the issues that are concerned in the situation is very vital in understanding our country as a whole. Knowing why America is in the situation that we are in can give students a large leap in becoming involved in our country. If students were taught the background information about the topics dealing with Iraq or terrorist groups they could form their own educated opinions about the situation. The article states that sixty percent of young adults are unaware of the location of Iraq on a globe. When I read that, the first thing that comes to mind is that Iraq is a country that we are at war with. To me, that is a problem. Over half of the soon to be leaders of our country do not know where the country that we are at war with is. That is just talking location. I would predict that I would be even more disappointed if a poll was taken asking a slightly more in depth question. Today's youth is extremely uneducated on the topic, and I believe that 9/11 is an important thing to learn about in history class. Learning about it goes further than just learning the facts about the day of September 11, 2001, it allows students to see the effects of terrorism. I believe that it is also important to understand why America was the target of al Qaeda and how we have made our country less of a target for today and the future. It is my strong belief that history textbooks should contain a large amount of information dealing with September 11th. I even think that teachers ought to take it one step further and stay current on the issues of today that relate to the attacks. In conclusion, I believe that learning about September 11th should become a priority in history classes across the United States.

news article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/08/911.teachers/index.html