Wait… What is 9/11?
A major injustice being served to our youth is the neglect to fully educate them on recent history. There is nothing wrong with keeping the classics in the history curriculum – the World Wars, 1812, Civil, Revolutionary, etc. – but too few know what the POW/MIA flag means in my classroom and even fewer have heard of September 11th.
Each year, my school will do a little memorial clip on the morning announcements (some video montage from YouTube played to a sappy patriotic country song) and the blank faces I witness around my homeroom are astounding. They don’t recognize those images that resemble some Hollywood disaster film.
How is it possible to be unaware at all? Sure, they were not born yet but I was not here for Vietnam either and I’m well-versed. We need an updated class for these young dudes and dudettes that informs them of our world’s more recent historic events. Nothing against Napoleon, Archduke Ferdinand or General Grant but they are so yesteryear.
Our younger generation which needs to grow up brilliant and strong so they can take care of my generation needs to know about the moon landing, JFK assassination, the '86 Mets, Gulf Wars, the Y2K debacle (that never was) and a little world-changing thing called 9/11. Those blank, oblivious faces I see watching the memorial montage offer little hope for an educated tomorrow. How can they “never forget” if they never know in the first place?
A major injustice being served to our youth is the neglect to fully educate them on recent history. There is nothing wrong with keeping the classics in the history curriculum – the World Wars, 1812, Civil, Revolutionary, etc. – but too few know what the POW/MIA flag means in my classroom and even fewer have heard of September 11th.
Each year, my school will do a little memorial clip on the morning announcements (some video montage from YouTube played to a sappy patriotic country song) and the blank faces I witness around my homeroom are astounding. They don’t recognize those images that resemble some Hollywood disaster film.
How is it possible to be unaware at all? Sure, they were not born yet but I was not here for Vietnam either and I’m well-versed. We need an updated class for these young dudes and dudettes that informs them of our world’s more recent historic events. Nothing against Napoleon, Archduke Ferdinand or General Grant but they are so yesteryear.
Our younger generation which needs to grow up brilliant and strong so they can take care of my generation needs to know about the moon landing, JFK assassination, the '86 Mets, Gulf Wars, the Y2K debacle (that never was) and a little world-changing thing called 9/11. Those blank, oblivious faces I see watching the memorial montage offer little hope for an educated tomorrow. How can they “never forget” if they never know in the first place?