Generation Z in the US shares how it first learned about the September 11 attacks
In the United States, members of Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, are sharing memories not of the September 11, 2001 attacks themselves, but of how they learned about them years later — from family members, teachers and through their own research. At the time, terrorists hijacked four planes, which they directed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
According to MyJoyOnline, Avery Black, a 20-year-old journalism student at the University of South Carolina, told the BBC that she first heard about September 11 in elementary school. She later asked her mother about the events of that day, and her mother tearfully told her about firefighters who went inside and did not return.
Family stories and education
Annie Erickson, 26, who grew up in North Carolina, recalls that her first impressions of the tragedy were shaped primarily by family stories. Her mother, who grew up in New York, told her about an acquaintance from her building who died in the towers.
Allegra Tashjian from Wisconsin said that in first or second grade, a teacher explained to students that it was an important and mournful day. Later, she tried to learn more from her mother, but her mother did not want to discuss the subject. According to Tashjian, reading materials online between approximately the ages of nine and 12 helped her gain a deeper understanding of the scale of the tragedy.
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Black noted that at first she did not understand that it was specifically a terrorist attack, since it is not easy to explain the meaning of terrorism to a child.
Approaches of the younger generation
There is no nationwide requirement in the United States to teach the subject of the September 11 attacks in schools. According to an Associated Press analysis, public schools in 25 states are required or expected to teach these events, while in another 13 states such teaching is not mandatory. At the same time, not all states where the subject is supposed to be taught have a specific curriculum defined.
Thomas Schwartz, a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt University, said that upper-level students born in 2004–2005 spoke about their generation's tendency to joke or avoid a serious conversation about September 11. According to him, students from the northeastern United States whose parents have personal memories of the tragedy approach the subject more cautiously.
David Schanzer, a Duke University professor who teaches a course on September 11 and its consequences, noted that students' interest in the subject remains strong: his course is full, and dozens of applicants are on the waiting list.
