Today is September 11, or I guess, Patriot's Day. Every year, I seem to find myself more and more concerned with how we remember the events of September 11, 2001. But today seemed particularly difficult, since, as a fifth grade teacher, I had to deliver some sort of lesson the the importance of "Patriot's Day" to a group that wasn't even born on September 11, 2001. And I realized, as I spoke to the children during my daily "Today in History" segment, that what is shaping these childrens' perception of historical events such as September 11 is the internet. Specifically what they are seeing on sites like YouTube.
And this scares me because there's an awful lot of crap out there about September 11. Conspiracy theories abound and the largely unregulated environment of sites such as YouTube provide a vast canvas on which to spread these theories. And, while I support free speech, I don't for one minute put any validity into these various myths surrounding the events in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania on that day. I had too much real interaction with the aftermath to believe anyone who wasn't actually there.
So today, I came to the realization that my role as a teacher and communicator is going to change. While I still live with the fresh memory of those who perished, both known to me and unknown to me, I can no longer just live with these memories and keep them to myself. But rather, as an educator, my role now is to act as a living history book, sharing the experience and making sure that this next generation of students, those born long after this stopped being "current events" and started being a chapter in their textbook, do not forget what happened on that day, or the lives that were lost, or the heroes that we celebrate.
In some way, I am going to have to become like one of the many that I met this summer who participated in the civil rights events in Alabama in 1963. My travels took me to Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery where I not only got to visit the sites of these great events, but to also meet many of those who were there. Their stories and recollections took what was to me a "textbook entry" and made it alive. I read about it - but they lived and breathed it. I could not have been more thankful for the time they were able to spend with me, sharing their own personal histories.
And now, it is up to me, to continue to share my personal history and those that I am familiar with, with my own students. I hope they find it as enriching as I have.
Today is September 11, or Patriot's Day. Take a moment to pause and remember.
I did.
