9/11 is a historical event that affected different generations in a variety of ways. On September 11, 2001, nineteen militants associated with the Islamic extremist group hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C. and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, however the impact of the event affected millions of lives. Fathers, mothers, friends and siblings mourned the loss of a loved one. People continue to attempt to heal to this day.
The majority of the students at Newtown High School were either unborn or just beginning their first year of life at the time of 9/11. At this stage, they were not given the option to experience the terror and unity that America came to face. “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve,” president George Bush said. The middle population of Generation Z never got to experience the empowerment and how America rallied; they never got to experience the direct pain in that moment of losing a loved one in tragedy. This loss of experience has altered their perspective on 9/11 compared to older generations.
Patrick Grover, NHS junior, is one of the many teenagers today who were not born yet at the time on 9/11.
“9/11 changed the perspective for our generation. It set a new norm for terrorism and a culture of racism for generations to come. It was definitely more traumatic for the people living in that time period of time 9/11 because they actually witness it on the news or even in person. For us, we just heard about it; it’s history that happened,” said Grover. As stated by Grover, Generation Z may not have witnessed the event while it occurred, but 9/11 was one of the major attacks that numbed the generation from terrorism; establishing it as a norm.
Anthony Metz is a social studies teacher at Newtown High School. Metz was a sophomore in college on the day of 9/11; he was in economics class when someone mentioned how a plane hit a Twin Tower.
“The teacher was like okay; no one thought much of it. Then 10 minutes later, someone mentioned how another tower was hit and we were told to leave. I went to school with a lot of kids who had parents working in the twin tower, so it was pretty crazy with parents dying or missing. I drove home that day because I thought the world was coming to an end. My thoughts were, are we being invaded? For me it was kind of like the apocalypse. It was a weird time for America because it's hard to get back to normal. I think for you guys it's something you view like WWII. It’s interesting but doesn’t affect you. When you don’t live through it is something of the past,” Metz said. For generation X, 9/11 plays a part in their development as a young adult.
Ms. Brownell is a Library Media Associate at NHS. She was a subbing at Head O’ Meadow Elementary at the time of the attack. Her children were at Sandy Hook Elementary when they got news of the first tower going down. By the time the second tower had been hit, the principle had notified the educational staff of what happened.
“Because they were elementary age students, we had to keep it quiet. I know at the high school, they were allowing students to watch the events on television. My daughters at Sandy Hook were sent home early because of a power outage, so while most kids were shielded from the events, my kids were home with their dad watching everything. It was a very surreal and horrible situation. It was really awful,” Brownell said. Baby boomers had already applied themselves to society at the time of 9/11, and did not grow up in a time period where terrorism was popular.
A major difference between now and the time of 9/11 is the increase in technology.
“I think if there would have been more social media there would have been more clarity because there were so many rumors,” said Metz.
NHS junior Hannah Daly agrees with this statement.
“During 9/11, the technology was not as advanced. Today with smart phones, we hear about the news on social media as soon as events happen. However during 9/11, news did not travel as fast and would have been harder to access,” said Daly.
Seventeen years later and 9/11 is still a part of everyone's lives, if the ways vary.
“I think it affects everyone with the increased security and paranoia that we now live with. There is no friendly feeling that we had before. It put a grey haze over what use to be happiness. It is the norm for your generation, but it did not use to be like that,” Brownell said.
America was changed forever after the events of 9/11.
Image courtesy of CNN.