For the past decade it has been the custom of each school I have attended to acknowledge and to mourn the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, on its anniversary.
I had heard countless recollections of that infamous Tuesday morning, each year with more vivid detail and explanation as I aged, yet I never grew tired of it. Even though I always knew how the story would end, I appreciated learning more on the matter because it always came with a feeling of consequence, like it was an issue not to be forgotten. Who wouldn’t be curious about the largest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, especially when it occurred right at the start of our lifetimes?
But as 2011 came and went, officially marking a full decade’s passing, acknowledgments of 9/11 began to dwindle. No more requested moments of silence, no more discussions of who knew someone affected by the disaster. This fall, as I made my way through the school day on the eleventh, I experienced something I had not in the past 12 years- no form of acknowledgement or commemoration was put forth by any of my teachers.
At first, it bothered me that no one had made an effort, but upon further consideration of the matter, I began to wonder. Should we still make an effort to honor the date each Sept. 11? Was ten years enough? Could it be time to move on?
Today, even the oldest of high school students would have only been six years old in September 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Center are but vague fragments in the memories of today’s teens.
Within the next five years, the memory of 9/11 will be older than high school students themselves. As fewer and fewer teachers take the time to address the matter, it is beginning to seem that the general consensus among the Redwood staff is that it is not worth the class time to repeat the details most of us have all heard for so long now. It seems especially pointless to do so when the event lacks relevance among students who have little to no real connection with it.
It is still a necessary gesture worth the effort to keep the memory alive, if for no other reason than to keep the country safe and aware for future generations to come. If we let 9/11 fade away only to be stumbled upon in history books, the true significance of that fateful day will be lost. It will join the ranks of holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day that have lost their meaning and are just viewed as another reason to take time off and hold car sales.
The memory of that September morning must carry on in order to honor the memory of those who lost their lives as well as to teach younger generations who will never experience life in the aftershock of a national tragedy. Students born post-9/11 don’t have the same emotional or memorable connection with the event that altered life in America so much in the 2000’s.
Since 9/11, changes in security regulations, public opinions on the Islamic religion, and the ‘War on Terror’ have shaped how we think, speak, and interact. Student’s deserve the recognition of an event that has so recently and so directly shaped the world that they now live in.
