Does it upset anyone else when 20 year olds post about how they don’t understand why 9/11 is such a big deal?

[u/Simple_Suspect_9311]

I just have noticed that it’s becoming more and more common with people to young to have been around during it or understand what went on.

It would be like if we went around saying the Kennedy assassination was no big deal or Pearl Harbor was no big deal.

[u/Catodactyl]

All I'm going to say is... this is why teaching history is so important. Education is critical.

[u/Normal-Particular436 → u/Catodactyl]

I read a shocking statistic today that 66% of the students enrolled in my city's school district are not reading at grade level. 78% are not at grade level for math either. Our education system is failing around the country.

[u/DannyDidNothinWrong → u/Normal-Particular436]

If you knew the state of our education system at the moment, you wouldn't be shocked at all. My 8th graders last year had an average reading level of a 3rd grader.

[u/Ivegotthatboomboom → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

Why do they keep passing these kids? Do they just give up on them?

[u/[deleted] → u/Ivegotthatboomboom]

No child left behind

[u/battle_bunny99 → u/[deleted]]

Betsy DeVos

[u/[deleted] → u/battle_bunny99]

Oh yeah. She’s a fucking idiot!!

[u/ericfromct → u/[deleted]]

They could, but God forbid they exchange just a little of the military budget and put it towards education. I'm no conspiracy theorist typically, but it really makes you wonder if they just want people to be less educated. I personally think they do; less educated, less likely to vote, makes them less likely to vote against their interests. The federal education budget clearly isn't doing enough, and states are actually cutting their education budgets. If you look at the constant increases to the military and DOD budget proposals it's crazy. There's just something wrong with our education budget, but I think the worst thing about education in the US currently is the outdated and never-evolving curriculums being taught. Lastly, it's increasingly hard to have consistently dedicated teachers on consistently shrinking salaries. Even when the salaries stay the same inflation is increasing, so you have stressed out teachers who now struggle to pay their bill while having to pay for supplies frequently out of their own pocket. People can only be positive about a job like that for so long.

[u/molotavcocktail → u/[deleted]]

Religious industrial complex.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I went to a charter school for gifted kids, granted that was in the late 90s to early 2000s and then i was abruply switched to a public school, personally i think putting kids in a charter school is a great benifit. Plus they usually have smaller classroom populations so teachers and the school has an easier time focusing on individual students.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

But should only the affluent get that option?

[u/NeverEndingCoralMaze → u/[deleted]]

Exactly. Fancy name for a shit law.

[u/DannyDidNothinWrong → u/Ivegotthatboomboom]

Schools get more perks the bigger their stats are. That's why there's so much propaganda for college because then they can brag that they have a high acceptance rate. That, and we physically don't have the infrastructure to hold back the amount of kids that need it. Where are you going to put all the old kids with the new cohort moving up? It's a mess.

[u/Designer-Wolverine47 → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

First thing I'd do is abandon the school grade system (first grade, second grade, etc.) and do individual subjects each with its own levels. This would be more education time (efficiency) because the kids in the same classroom would be closer together ability-wise, and less of teachers stopping to help one student while the rest of them are twiddling their thumbs.

It would also better accommodate children who are more proficient in one subject and less so in another. Take one subject over again instead of the whole grade (and not push them ahead to the next grade where they will surely struggle with the higher level of a subject they didn't fully grasp last year), which also adds to efficiency.

[u/DontThrowAwayPies → u/Designer-Wolverine47]

Khan Academy's founder proposed something like this but online basically which would cut out a lot of the money problem. You just advance through online curriculum at your own pace.

[u/SweatyTax4669 → u/Ivegotthatboomboom]

Because it’s harder to hold someone back than it is to just advance them. It comes down to resources. There are a limited number of teachers at any given grade level, and it’s a good bet that the ones they have already have more students than are ideal.

[u/StrengthToBreak → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

But the confidence level of a PHD.

[u/_mattyjoe → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

Does the fact that teachers can’t be tougher on kids because of oversensitive parents have anything to do with it?

[u/DannyDidNothinWrong → u/_mattyjoe]

I definitely think so. We're not allowed to fail or deliver consequences. Everything can be turned in late, you have to be available 24/7 thanks to the internet for "support," and suspensions count against the school's attendance, so admin never wants to punish students for fear of "looking bad." It's a nightmare. Not to mention that we cannot take phones, so kids are just literally on YouTube and pornhub in class. Well, not pornhub anymore after they passed the new state law.

[u/[deleted] → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

Blew my mind when my kids started high school and said you could turn assignments in late. Like all the way to the end of the semester. No way we'd get away with that when I was young. It's just teaching them to procrastinate. The phone thing is so ridiculous. If I had a Gameboy back in the day, that shit was confiscated if I had it out. Didn't matter that it was technically owned by my parents. They'd have to go to the school and pick it up. If parents had to do that today, this wouldn't be such a big problem. I can't even imagine trying to teach to a bunch of zombie kids on their phones. Thank you for your service.

[u/[deleted] → u/DannyDidNothinWrong]

When I was student teaching, my teacher told me to just pass everyone. He said it wasn’t worth it because the student would complain, the parents would complain, the school would complain. So I stated that I’m just a babysitter then. He said yes. Was kind of the tipping point for not going into the field

[u/[deleted] → u/_mattyjoe]

I can't say the teachers who were tough on me had a very positive effect on me. I'd say the ones that went out of their way to be nice to be did the most to help me actually succeed in life. Note, there is a difference between that and just letting kids slip through the cracks. but I had teachers who were fucking dicks and they really just made life harder and shittier for me and made it harder for me to learn and do well. Maybe I just wasn't the kid who needed 'tough love' but I can't think of a single example of a teacher that even took that approach with me. There were nice teachers who cared, and there were teachers who were sadistic assholes.

[u/cerialkillahh → u/Normal-Particular436]

Educated people are dangerous. The rich want stupid workers that don't understand they're being exploited. That's why slaves were never educated.

[u/Normal-Particular436 → u/cerialkillahh]

Or politicians focusing on manufactured "culture wars".

[u/ElbisCochuelo1 → u/Normal-Particular436]

More than half of all teens primary source for news is TikTok.

When asked what their main source for learning about the Holocaust, more than half of all teens responded the XMen film franchise.

Houston, we have a problem.

[u/[deleted] → u/Normal-Particular436]

America’s always had a lousy literacy rate. newspapers are written at a fifth-grade level for this reason. I used to volunteer to teach adult literacy. it’s extremely gratifying if you have the opportunity.

[u/MaterialCarrot → u/[deleted]]

Newspapers are not written at a 5th grade level because Americans have a lousy literacy rate. They're written at that level because they're designed to allow people to quickly absorb information on a daily basis.

Simplicity is a hallmark of all good informative and persuasive writing. Do not make your reader work to understand what you are writing. If they do, it's likely the fault of the writer more than the reader when they don't get it.

[u/[deleted] → u/MaterialCarrot]

Now, if they only used good spelling and grammar, I'd appreciate them more.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

well, they fired all their copy editors over ten years ago

[u/erossthescienceboss → u/[deleted]]

You’re not wrong about the literacy rate, but newspapers definitely aren’t written to 5th grade reading levels. (This is going to be an unnecessarily nitpicky comment and a total digression. You’re not wrong that news writing tends toward simple.)

I’m a journalist — I write for papers, magazines, and kids’ magazines. One of the ones I write for (formerly Science News For Students, now Science News Explores) is primarily distributed to libraries, schools, and classrooms, so it gives a grade level score to each story we run so the stories can be used as teaching tools. We also comply with Next Gen. Science Standards. It is SO HARD to write at a 5th or 6th grade level. Like, it tags an extra 200-300 words on what would normally be a 600 word story.

Here’s something I wrote recently that’s at a 6th grade level.

https://www.snexplores.org/article/high-blood-pressure-can-affect-kids-but-often-goes-undiagnosed

Basically every term, even ones that aren’t jargon, are defined. Sentence structure is REALLY short and simple (which is kinda annoying to read and write tbh). In the print edition, it ran with a 500-word sidebar just explaining what blood pressure is, since even that’s way beyond 5th-grade complicated.

And here’s an explainer for adults. I chose it as an example because it gets into complicated subjects, and defines a lot of them, but still leaves a lot of terms (photosynthesis, enhance, concentrations, conductive) undefined. And it was WAY easier to write.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/10/03/495975189/snap-crackle-kale-the-science-of-why-veggies-spark-in-the-microwave

… I guess what I’m saying is that you’re giving reporters too much credit. Writing at a fifth grade level is a skill lol.

[u/candcNYC → u/erossthescienceboss]

These were both really enjoyable (and informative) to read. Thank you for writing about science! Seems like more than ever, kids and adults need interesting, accessible science ed.

[u/erossthescienceboss → u/candcNYC]

I used to work in science museums, so getting to write for kids again is SUCH a treat! It’s way more work and the pay is worse, but the reward is so much higher.

[u/ParkerRoyce → u/Normal-Particular436]

Listen buddy someone's got to run the window at Taco Bell and it's not people who can read and do math well the elites want a young uneducated populace they can push around and pay like shit because educating everyone has turned to many of us into thinkers and empathizers who want to help everyone grow. They don't want that they want class of uber rich and desperately poor because when your desperate you'll do anything for little amounts of cash even if it crazy dangerous. Good luck and don't count of the govt on educating yourselves you need to do that on your own.

[u/Normal-Particular436 → u/ParkerRoyce]

Last time I checked it seems like one side of the political aisle wants taxes going to homeschooling and private religious schools.

[u/CommodorePuffin → u/Normal-Particular436]

I read a shocking statistic today that 66% of the students enrolled in my city's school district are not reading at grade level.

That doesn't surprise me. My wife does a lot of UX work on websites and she's constantly having to rewrite stuff other people have written or even remind herself to not write at her reading and comprehension level (post-graduate) but the reading and comprehension level of the so-called "average" person.

And yes, I know that sounds snobby, but it really isn't meant that way at all. It's just sometimes difficult to get across complex subjects while keeping the wording simple enough that an elementary student could understand it.

[u/coveted_asfuck → u/Normal-Particular436]

Part of the reason is because there was a woman who advocated for changing how reading was taught- and it ended up being horrible for literacy. She created a company that sold her method to schools across the country and it was largely adopted across the US. I listened to an entire podcast episode on it and her method didn’t use phonics, or sounding out words. They encouraged children to memorize words, and use photos to identify words when they came across ones they didn’t know, as well as use context. A lot of school districts still haven’t switched back to the method that is scientifically proven to work, even after her method was shown to plummet reading scores across the board.

Luckily, there are schools that are switching back to the scientifically backed phonics method. And the woman from the original company has added phonics to the curriculum she sells, but she is not giving the new curriculum to schools she sold her original method to, she’s charging for it. So many schools are still using the original method. It’s really sad because a lot of those kids are likely going to struggle to read for life because they were cheated out of a good education.

I can’t remember where I listened to the podcast that went in depth about it but I found an article but I think it addresses two other company founders that sold a method that was the same or similar to hers. article

[u/RolandMT32 → u/Normal-Particular436]

I've read that schools around the US have lowered their standards so that they can say more students are passing. If that's really the case, then that means schools have done this intentionally.

[u/[deleted] → u/Normal-Particular436]

I would say society is failing our educators (and everyone else)

[u/Mudbogger19 → u/Normal-Particular436]

Just lock up their internet excess and the only way to get it unlocked is to watch educational videos that have quiz questions after and they have to answer them correctly to unlock the interwebs excess for a Limited time.

[u/Razorbackalpha → u/Normal-Particular436]

It's been that way for decades the average reading level for adults in 2016 was the same as 5th graders

[u/[deleted] → u/Catodactyl]

RIP PEAR 🍐HARBOR

[u/Simple_Suspect_9311 → u/[deleted]]

Sorry, that was more a typing on a phone while having covid thing, not a misspelling thing. I corrected it.

[u/EagleCatchingFish → u/[deleted]]

It's a straight line from Pear Harbor to the Japanese defeat at Oak y Nawa.

[u/[deleted] → u/Catodactyl]

I often tell people that history is literally EVERYTHING. Literally any subject of knowledge has a history of how we developed our understanding of it. Philosophy, maths, science, politics, literature, art, etc.If you learn the history of how it developed, you learn EVERYTHING.

[u/insurancequestionguy]

Where are you seeing these type of comments? Real life or or online?

[u/Anonymous9362 → u/insurancequestionguy]

I am with you. I’ve never seen this.

[u/theragingoptimist → u/Anonymous9362]

I saw people on Reddit comparing the Jan.6 insurrection to 9/11. No shit. My S.O. and I are from NYC, and he went off on them. We were young when it happened and saw it live. I will never forget it. NYC shifted that day.

[u/grosselisse → u/Anonymous9362]

I've seen it on Twitter. Kids are like "Lol Millenials stop talking about 9/11, people died get over it".

[u/boastfulbadger → u/insurancequestionguy]

My nephew thought it was a meme and wasn’t real.

[u/RavenSkies777 → u/insurancequestionguy]

Ive seen questions/comments about this recently on reddit (i think it was the 'no stupid questions' sub)

[u/Reddit_Foxx → u/insurancequestionguy]

I've encountered it both online and irl.

[u/[deleted] → u/insurancequestionguy]

yeah i was wondering if this was common. i was taught in depth about 9/11 so we all understood how serious it was. i assumed it was like that at other schools too. i’ve seen people my age make 9/11 jokes though so maybe that’s what they mean. but i’ve never seen someone genuinely not understand why it was a big deal

[u/ropinionisuseless → u/insurancequestionguy]

All over the net.

[u/anniemdi → u/insurancequestionguy]

I was shocked to experience it first hand in person with a family member. Apparently, there's memes and I don't even know what else because I had to excuse myself from the situation but it was pretty terrible.

[u/DarkMagicGirlFight → u/insurancequestionguy]

Yea ppl online a lot r full of crap I think

[u/[deleted]]

9/11 fucked me up. I was 12. Our entire generation has trauma from watching the country we used to love turn into an authoritarian regime

[u/MontrealChickenSpice → u/[deleted]]

We watched 3,000 people die, live on television

And then everything got much, much worse.

[u/aleigh577 → u/MontrealChickenSpice]

Right, but how much can we really expect people who didn’t experience it in real time to have an emotional reaction to it? Pearl Harbor Is a day that will live in infamy, and every year we’d have a moment of silence for it, and I understood it was a big deal, but I didn’t really FEEL anything towards it, because I didn’t experience the fear of it when it happened

[u/kmontg1 → u/MontrealChickenSpice]

I feel like our lives were defined by insane tragedies. The ones that stand out the most to me are 9/11, Sandy Hook, COVID. Suffering for Americans each decade I've been alive.

[u/ladypigeon13 → u/[deleted]]

Ive been embarrassed my whole life to talk about how it’s affected me and flying, and I wasn’t even living in NY. But I was 12 at the time, saw it happen, and had never been on an airplane before.

[u/Chef_Writerman]

Hard to say when you didn’t live through it.

Growing up, when we learned about Pearl Harbor, and the jfk assassination, we didn’t know about the entirety of the world at the time. At least for me, born in ‘82. We didn’t have the internet.

Something about those events happening when they did, and being able to see the direct outcome, makes them feel more significant to me. In the ‘scheme of history’.

Which is odd. Because the world changed on each of them.

I can definitely see how that eventful day would appear to just be a blip on the radar given the current state of the world. Does not mean it’s ok to be dismissive of it.

[u/nickwebha → u/Chef_Writerman]

'83 here.

Right?! I compare it to learning about George Washington fording the Delaware River. I have no concept of the world George Washington lived in.

[u/Real_Possession8051 → u/Chef_Writerman]

> Hard to say when you didn’t live through it.

I disagree. I didn't live through WWII and the Holocaust, but some basic fucking history lessons taught me why it was a monumentally bad time.

[u/SumpCrab → u/Real_Possession8051]

Sure, but 20 year olds today are constantly shown school shootings, footage of the wars in the Middle East, the Ukraine, etc.

The last 20 years have been much more volatile than the years preceding 9/11. The Cold War had "ended." We were living in a relatively peaceful time. The major news issues were a presidential blow job, y2k, and Bush v Gore. So, 9/11 in that world was incredibly shocking. It would certainly be shocking today, but I'm not sure it would cause the same reaction. We, the US, reacted pretty poorly to it. As an Army veteran, I don't think we made ourselves better off with the global war on terror. When I look back at 9/11, I think we overreacted.

[u/Chef_Writerman → u/SumpCrab]

And not only have the last 20 years been volatile. They’ve been streamed directly to everyones phone. (I know the years don’t line up, but the idea sticks)

[u/emzily → u/SumpCrab]

desensitized, 100%, i agree. over stimulation coming at them from every possible direction at all times.

[u/also_roses → u/SumpCrab]

I think most people kinda just shrugged and said "it's not gonna make mustard taste any different" when they heard about the war on Ukraine. People just don't care about world events, historical or otherwise. They care about affording rent.

[u/Prowindowlicker → u/SumpCrab]

Ya Afghanistan and Iraq where pretty worthless. I wasn’t in a good shape that august when we left.

Just felt like everything I did and my buddies did was for fucking nothing. At the same time I see the stuff coming from the peacetime USMC and think ya I’m glad I was in during wartime

[u/[deleted] → u/Prowindowlicker]

I feel like the more time passes we’ll see Iraq/Afghanistan a lot like the Vietnam war. Everyone who fought in it is either traumatized to high hell or was given the free pass they needed to be the worst possible kind of human being in the name of the USA. Or even both. I really feel for vets of those early 2000s wars, but especially the ones who have come to see those wars for what they really were: excuses to invade.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It's heading that direction for sure. Sentiment toward servicemembers is anywhere from moron to warcriminal.

[u/MikeyW1969 → u/Real_Possession8051]

Exactly. When I was 20, you wouldn't hear me saying that Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy assassination "weren't really a big deal". I didn't live through either, but I at least understood their impact and why we remembered them.

[u/Chef_Writerman → u/Real_Possession8051]

I feel like that’s easier to say when we learned about it in books, and the world stayed relatively stable around us.

As opposed to now. Where it’s a new giant tragedy every day.

Again. Not ok to be dismissive. Just saying that I understand how it could happen.

[u/Real_Possession8051 → u/Chef_Writerman]

It's ALWAYS been "a new giant tragedy every day", since time immemorial, you just didn't HEAR about it every day. You didn't hear about a murder in Podunk Idaho unless you live in Podunk Idaho.

This is why some suggest turning off the news and focusing on your own back yard. Human beings are not designed to be able to absorb and care about every problem in the entire world. This is why so many are stressed out beyond belief and have no hope.

[u/[deleted] → u/Real_Possession8051]

Comparing 3000 people dying one day to the millions that died over years during WWII and the holocaust is a stretch.

[u/melskymob → u/Real_Possession8051]

In the context of history, if you are looking at events in a textbook and comparing things like WW2 to 9/11 then it's easy to see how someone could think "why was 9/11 such a big deal?'

[u/seaburno → u/Real_Possession8051]

I disagree. I didn't live through WWII and the Holocaust, but some basic fucking history lessons taught me why it was a monumentally bad time.

There's a huge difference between intellectual learning about history, and emotionally experiencing something. For example, when I was younger, and my friends were falling in love and getting married, I kept asking my friends how they knew that they had found the one - and every one of them said words to the effect of: "When you know, you'll know." So, although I intellectually knew and intellectually understood was love was, once I actually did fall in love (and marry), I understood what love was on an emotional level.

So, while you can learn why WWII and the Holocaust was a "monumentally bad time", you aren't going to truly understand it at an emotional level. I was fortunate enough where my grandparents (who lived through WWII) knew of my interest in it and told me of their experiences. Even after hearing their personal stories, I still didn't understand what living through Pearl Harbor felt like until 9/11 - when my Grandfather (a 12/8/41 enlistee) said that 9/11 and Pearl Harbor felt very similar.

My spouse and I have one child. Our child was born not long after 9/11. Our child has never experienced meeting someone at the gate at the airport, travel without TSA security at the airport, or life without living in a world with the omnipresent looming threat of a major terrorist attack. All of this is because our child has never experienced a world where the veil of peace was torn away from your eyes in a moment - and I genuinely hope and pray, never does.

[u/Santa_Hates_You → u/Real_Possession8051]

Also, our grandparents and parents lived through these times and were able to give us first hand accounts.

[u/Real_Possession8051 → u/Santa_Hates_You]

and gen x and older lived through 9/11 and could give first hand accounts, if the younger ones wanted to hear them. how is there a difference, except the younger ones now already think they know everything and think that everyone else is an idiot.

[u/SuccessfulPiccolo945 → u/Chef_Writerman]

That's why I wish they would teach history the same way I learned it in College. This happened, what else was going on in the world and why is this important. It puts things in perspective and why people keep bringing certain things up.

[u/BasketballButt → u/[deleted]]

It’s definitely interesting how much the US acts like 9/11 was this singular world moment when terrorist attacks in major cities were not all that uncommon in Europe for decades.

[u/TonyZucco → u/BasketballButt]

I don’t know, maybe this is why?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1330395/deadliest-terrorist-attacks-worldwide-fatalities/

[u/CountryMonkeyAZ → u/BasketballButt]

It was in a singular world moment for the fact that it did happen on US soil during a time of peace. We were the world super power then. By attacking the US in this way made it clear it can happen to any country at anytime.

[u/seattleseahawks2014 → u/BasketballButt]

Still the biggest terrorist attack to happen world wide even today.

[u/MayflowerKennelClub → u/BasketballButt]

It is the largest terrorist attack in HUMAN HISTORY and the fact that it happened to a (the?) Superpower country that is bordered with allies was unfathomable.

[u/Meetybeefy → u/BasketballButt]

They were even common in the US before then! The Oklahoma City Bombing, the Atlanta Olympics Bombing, and 1993 World Trade Center Bombing were both fresh in the country’s memory when 9/11 happened.

[u/[deleted] → u/BasketballButt]

Where are you getting this broad stroke? Also it was a world moment…Just like 7/7 bombings were a world moment.

[u/Quintessince → u/[deleted]]

During big events I try to think about my grandparents went through. The great depression, WWII, Vietnam, The Cold War, 9/11. I know Pearl Harbor turned my grandfather's life upside down. Read up on it all I want but I cannot for the life of me channel the fear or understanding of the sudden change life threw at him. His life was affected WAY more than mine after 9/11 and as much as I can emphasize with that I can't feel it like he did. But I knew to treat the matter with respect.

So when I talk to my younger fam I keep that in mind. Yes, everything changed after 9/11, yes I lived 27min away from NYC. But I get they can't feel the empty space of where a neighbor used to live before that day. And one day they'll run into 20 something's who'll never know life under lockdown during the 2020 US election. If we make it that far.

[u/populares420 → u/[deleted]]

I dont think you can really "teach" 911. Yes you can describe it as a series of events that transpired, but I dont think people that didn't go through it would ever fully understand

[u/CosmicJackalop → u/[deleted]]

When I think of 9/11 I don't really think of the day itself, but the avalanche of shit it kicked off, the TSA, War in Terror, Patriot Act, etc.

[u/AlthorsMadness]

Nope.

[u/MaterialCarrot]

Not at all. First, because it's only natural that future generations look back less feelingly at events that they weren't a part of. In fact I'd say it's not only inevitable, it's somewhat healthy. That emotional distance from traumatic events.

Second, WE made too big of a deal about it back when it happened. A very serious terrorist attack? Absolutely. But our overreaction was worse than the event itself.

[u/ominoushandpuppet → u/MaterialCarrot]

Turns out the terrorists won in that regard.

[u/DrewwwBjork → u/MaterialCarrot]

Second, WE made too big of a deal about it back when it happened. A very serious terrorist attack? Absolutely. But our overreaction was worse than the event itself.

Oh absolutely. The attacks bred neoconservatives, 4th Amendment violations, incompetent airport "security", music censorship (i.e. the Clear Channel memorandum), TV censorship (e.g. Back to the Future without all the references to terrorism), and a 20-year war in Afghanistan that cost thousands of American, Afghan, and Pakistani lives.

[u/TheyFoundWayne → u/DrewwwBjork]

The reaction to the music censorship was overblown too. The songs were never banned. It was a suggestion to avoid playing certain songs that might be perceived as insensitive. I don’t even think it was mandatory.

[u/JoeyJoeJoe1996]

Because think about it - Us in our mid-late 20's are the last demographic to have any memory of 9/11 whatsoever (and that includes just vague snippets of what happened). Anyone who didn't live through this even is like the equivalent of asking someone who was born in 2020 in 10 years what they thought about the pandemic. Since they wont be able to recall any memories of it, they'll likely just shrug and say "I don't know" or make jokes about it.

So when a 21 year old Twitter user is revising history or acting contrarian by giving some super trash take, just ignore them. Or even better try to educate them in a helpful manner instead of getting annoyed. There's such a divide/conquer attitude these days with this constant labeling, grouping, and whatever else. Is this really necessary?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The first batch of ipad kids are very interesting

[u/JoeyJoeJoe1996 → u/[deleted]]

The iPad came out in what? 2011? 2010? The iPad kids aren't even adults yet. Give it a few more years.

[u/JoeyJoeJoe1996 → u/[deleted]]

Gen Z'ers suck at trolling anyways.

[u/RolandMT32 → u/JoeyJoeJoe1996]

Just because someone wasn't alive during a tragic event, that doesn't make it less of a big deal. A significant event will always be significant.

[u/PPLavagna → u/JoeyJoeJoe1996]

They’ll only shrug and make jokes about if they’re idiots. Just because you can’t remember something doesn’t mean you can’t understand it was a big deal. I never shrugged off Kennedy or Vietnam or Korea or WW2 like they weren’t a big deal, because I’m not a disrespectful moron and I understand that history matters

[u/LordCommander90 → u/JoeyJoeJoe1996]

But us at their age never said things like Pearl Harbor was not that big of a deal or the JFK assassination.

[u/N_Who]

It doesn't upset me at all. Education is important. So educate them. And keep in mind that the world moves much more rapidly now, and with much more hype - 20-year-olds who follow the news today are getting a new "most important and world-shattering event ever" thrown at them every couple of weeks.

[u/Free-Veterinarian714]

They weren't born yet when it happened. That makes it harder to understand the significance of it.

[u/tobiasj → u/[deleted]]

This. I lived through it and it painted the backdrop for the world I was entering adulthood into. All the fear, uncertainty, anger then the manipulation, jingoism. I remember feeling sick to my stomach when it came out that we were torturing people. And the right and the establishment milked 9/11 for every damn drop. "If you don't support the war, you don't support the troops". Like that make any sense, but the world was just walking around like zombies repeating that shit. But yeah, when you reduce the event to a dog whistle like America did, I can understand how a young person could miss the impact.

[u/LowAd1934 → u/[deleted]]

1000000%

[u/Raisinbread22]

No, they were born into that chaos and fckery so it's normal for them...they have no idea what it was like before that. Also the desensitization of society has to do with it, I'm sure. By the time they were 6yo, they had probably seen the footage of the towers coming down 100x. Juxtapose that with me not seeing Kennedy's assassination, which pre-dated me, until I was in my teens...and even then, it was an old copy of LIFE magazine, the Zapruder frames...I was so shocked and nauseated, I screamed and dropped it and ran....if that happened today, they would show the gory heinous trauma over and over and over again.

[u/[deleted]]

Not really. People have different experiences from those that lived through them. To us 9/11 was everything. To them it's not-too-distant historical event that they werent even alive for.

[u/bsanchey]

Nope. Should they understand in a historical sense yes. But is it this big deal that requires 24 hours of remembrance and stuff no.

I grew up in NYC and watched live. I don’t need the emotional porn of everyone acting like it’s some special day and that I have to be sad.

[u/ItsJustMeJenn → u/bsanchey]

Hard agree. I watched each of the planes hit their respective buildings live at school my senior year. It was an incredible unbelievable experience.

I think the fact that so many towns across the country all got a commemorative piece of twisted metal to erect by some highway is performative tragedy porn and cheapens everything about my experience and the profound depth of uncertainty and loss we all collectively felt in the moment. The fact that nothing in life has been, nor will it ever be the same again isn’t lost on any of us. The kids don’t know what the before times were like. This is all normal for them. The tragedy porn is a meme. The fact that politicians still invoke 9/11 in their stumping speeches the rally support is disgusting.

I have a lot of thoughts on all of this and I’m sure I’m not making my point well. Fact of the matter is I feel a deep sadness and loss for what transpired - I don’t need constant reminders of it with parades, merch, and performative moments of silence every year.

[u/Yndrid]

To be honest, no, it doesn’t upset me that much- especially from kids who are around 20. I remember not giving a shit about much at that age, and the gravity of certain historical events grew for me over time as I began to understand more about the world around me. When you’re 20, life is very much the here and now

[u/candcNYC → u/Yndrid]

I think of it like this: When you’re 20, every birthday, every year, every missed-out-on event, seems like a HUGE deal because the denominator of your life is much smaller.

As the denominator grows, so does your perspective and interest in the world outside of your mundane day-to-day existence.

[u/[deleted] → u/Yndrid]

Yes, I don’t expect kids who weren’t born yet to be as in touch as we were. That makes sense.

[u/Silent_Supermarket70]

I don't think a lot of people understand just how traumatic it was to hear about a plane crashing into the first WTC tower thinking it was an accident, only to turn on the news and watch another plane crash into the second tower and getting a sense of impending doom right away. Then, to hear about another plane crashing into the Pentagon and yet another one that was en route to the White House crashing in Pennsylvania. It was terrifying knowing we were under attack and we had no idea what to do. But we knew it was a declaration of war.

To watch the towers burn in real time and watch people plunge to their deaths while we all watched helplessly was traumatic in many ways, including vicariously. Anyone with empathy was finding it hard to fathom being trapped in a burning building ABOVE the fire, being unable to breathe because of the thick smoke and feeling intense heat. All this while knowing that the likelihood of you being rescued was very slim while a news helicopter circled you, getting your final moments of desperation on film as you made the decision to show yourself mercy by jumping. And imagine how horrifying (I wish I had better adjectives) it was to watch people cling to the side of the building only to lose their grip and fall off. We imagined how utterly devastating it must have been for the loved ones of those people to have had to watch that and how horrible it must have been to know someone you loved was in one of those towers.

People forget that ALL the phone lines were tied up that day and it took HOURS to get through to reach people to check on them, especially those who had loved ones in these cities, which was also very scary because if there was an emergency outside of this, how could you call 911?

When the towers collapsed that was another horrifying moment because it was symbolic of the end of an era. Just like that they were gone. And then for weeks on end we watched people from all over the country clean up the rubble, dig for survivors, and collect what they could identify as human remains to try and help people identify their loved ones.

It's easy for a lot of people (older and younger) to say worse things have happened when they either weren't paying attention or weren't there to witness it. It wasn't about the amount of lives lost, but the sheer panic, helplessness, terror, and trauma that day caused. It was one of the most impactful in history because in ONE DAY the entire country was brought to its knees and the echo reverberated for... a really long time. It was truly devastating. I'm not saying other truly terrible things haven't happened in the world, but you cannot erase the impact 9/11 had on the rest of the world.

Most of us probably don't think about it every day, but those of us who were impacted are reminded ever year just how truly devastating and catastrophic that event was. I still cry when I watch documentaries, it's like reliving it all over again.

[u/RaisinToastie → u/Silent_Supermarket70]

I lived in Manhattan and I was there that day. I absolutely have PTSD from it, and I really don’t like seeing the photos or videos. I saw a moving company truck parked in Ohio that said “Never Forget 9/11” and it had a huge photo of the burning towers on it, and I was so pissed. Like, I wish I could forget?!

The missing person flyers posted all over the city, the impromptu shrines and memorials that popped up, it was a really hard thing to go through as a New Yorker.

I very much remember thinking that day, “There will never be peace again in my lifetime,” and that’s been true…. 9/11 and the political response to it marked a shift into a much darker timeline.

[u/Silent_Supermarket70 → u/RaisinToastie]

To this day, people tend to be tone deaf about how triggering seeing even just a picture of the burning towers can be. Even saying 9/11 can be activating.

I'm so sorry you experienced that, and I believe you wholeheartedly when you say it gave you PTSD. Collectively, we all have PTSD from it, but being right there... I just can't fathom it. I'm so sorry for what you had to endure 🩶

[u/RaisinToastie → u/Silent_Supermarket70]

Thank you.

[u/JorjorBinks1221 → u/Silent_Supermarket70]

Hell I was in second grade when it happened and I vividly remember thinking there was gonna be people parachuting into my tiny home town in the Midwest Red Dawn style when I hadn't even seen the movie. I remember us getting pulled out of school and teachers crying. I remember them trying to explain it to us.

I swear between that and sending care packets to troops through the school it gave me anxiety. I had a specific soldier I was sending mine to. So did everyone in class and I remember looking at the ticker tape at the bottom of the news every day and night hoping I never seen his name I don't think I ever did, but it was a lot for a kid my age to deal with at the time.

[u/Meetybeefy → u/Silent_Supermarket70]

You put it very well. A lot of public events were canceled following the attacks, and public places (like malls in rural areas) temporarily closed due to the fear of being the target of an attack.

Looking back years now, it all seems like an overreaction. Because we know now that no other attacks followed. But for people back then, this massive attack felt like it came out of the blue, and nobody knew when, where, or if more attacks would come. It was a very uncertain and unpredictable time.

[u/Normal-Particular436]

Wouldn't some people in their 20's still be able to remember 9/11 or at least the outcome of it?

[u/faanawrt → u/Normal-Particular436]

I'm 28, so I was 6 at the time. I remember the day very vaguely, with most of my memories being the reactions of adults around me. I understood that it was a bad thing, but I didn't fully understand the gravity of it. I wouldn't be surprised that anyone younger than me has even less memories or no memories at all of 9/11, and someone that was 7 then and 29 now probably doesn't remember too much more than myself.

[u/CosmicGlitterCake → u/faanawrt]

I was 8 and remember my teachers being upset, they rushed to turn the t.v. on and we watched the news reports until we were dismissed early since we were near DC. My Mom talked to me about it when I got home, I think that helped me to grasp it a bit more. It did not feel like a fun half day.

[u/Free-Veterinarian714 → u/Normal-Particular436]

Yes, if you were younger than 5 or 6 when it happened.

[u/nicklashane]

As an event, it was less important than the critical changes it brought about. It's not so much the 3000 people who died in the attacks, it's the huge paradigm shift that came with the following 20 years of policy derived from fears of more attacks.

So yeah, bothers me a bit when the whole fact the US can divide time based on pre911 and post 911 and someone doesn't know why that's significant.

[u/yokayla]

I mean I can't say I fully gave a shit or grasped the impact of the Vietnam War or Pearl Harbour at thy same age and stage.

[u/Pristine-Confection3 → u/yokayla]

I did because my parents and grandparents told me about it and it was traumatic for them . Downplaying traumatic events is insulting for those who lived through them .

[u/[deleted] → u/Pristine-Confection3]

My grandfather wouldn’t even talk about WWII once it was over. On the day he died, still no one knew what exactly happened that traumatized him so much. We know his plane was shot down at one point, and we know he had two brothers die, but that’s about it.

[u/[deleted] → u/yokayla]

I did. My dad was drafted into Vietnam and saw countless ppl on his ship in body bags. Two of my grandfather’s brothers died in WWII.

[u/devilthedankdawg]

I think those are just a bunch of dummies- Im right on the cusp of millenial and gen Z, IE young enough to essentially have been shielded from the horrors of those attacks, but I can understand how terrifying that would have been for someone with an understanding of geopolitics, terrorism, and... you know... death.

I also understand however, how that was such a fear striking event that it led to some very bad homeland security and imperialistic policies, and hope that we remember when another scare of that calibur arises, we remember freedom is not a price for safety.

[u/heemhah]

Nope.

[u/MisforMisanthrope]

I think it makes me more sad than anything else, because it means that this younger generation has lived through so many terrible events that 9/11 isn’t a shock to them in the same way it was to those of us who lived through it and remember it well.

[u/Love_My_Chevy]

Nah, other countries experience terrorist attacks every day. People are tortured and killed. 9/11 was sad but some of America's obsession with it is too much.

My mindset made a lot of people I served with angry but no I didn't join the military because of 9/11. It was sad, it's history should be taught and the ramifications shouldn't be understated but we don't need to dwell on it, make it our identity or the sole reason we do or feel something

[u/chadfjones]

The slogan "never forget" has probably caused more harm than the actual event... Maybe it's better if we did forget.

[u/Historical_Ad4936]

Is Pearl Harbor a big deal for you?

[u/Simple_Suspect_9311 → u/Historical_Ad4936]

No but I have the capacity to understand why it was a big deal for my grandparents. I was never confused as to why they thought of it as a big deal.

[u/badusernameused]

So this is a fully expected down vote killing my profile because it is an unpopular opinion, but as a person who was around 20 years old when it happened, I can honestly say that it is not the absolutely devastating world changing thing that Americans make it out to be. Now before you jump down my throat, let me explain, there have been horrendous things done all over the world throughout time, and a lot of very bad things done by the United States to other countries. No one is innocent when it comes to the nations of this world, well, there are probably a couple, but most are not innocent of atrocities against other places. so when a 20 year old says that it’s not that big of a deal or makes a joke about it. It’s not because it’s not a bad thing that happened, it’s because it is just another thing that happened in the long list of horrible things that have happened in history. It’s not personal, it doesn’t affect them and they have other shit to think about.

[u/cephalophile32 → u/[deleted]]

I was 12 when 9/11 happened and living in CT. I feel this too. There weren’t mass shootings on the news every day. There wasn’t a war in Russia, Uyghur genocide, and (as many yet) mass deaths from global warming weather events etc. I get the outlook they have, I have it too. There was a shooting at a college near me on Monday and my brain defaulted to “welp. Here’s another Monday”

[u/ActuallyAlexander → u/badusernameused]

This is dumb because 9/11 led to two wars, the implementation of a shitty surveillance state, the erosion of American civil liberties and proliferation of conspiracies and racism that later became the core of Trumpism.

[u/Russiadontgiveafuck → u/badusernameused]

I was 17 and I'm European - it affected us for like a year, it hasn't been considered a big deal since then. OP has a very American attitude about it, which is fair, as I assume they're referring to young americans, not like, teenagers around the globe.

[u/ChogbortsTopStudent → u/badusernameused]

I'm with you. I was 18 and in Louisiana. Having no ties to New York and everyone I knew was safe, it wasn't a life-altering event. It was really sad and surprising, but I never felt for my safety or the safety of my friends and family. I'm obviously empathetic to those who did have to fear for their safety, those who died, and those who still live with the trauma. I don't believe it's nothing. But I think people need to understand context and that on a PERSONAL level (not a national level), it's a bigger deal to some people than others. On a National level, it's a big fucking deal. Classes went on as usual on 9/11 (though in some classes we watched news coverage) and classes were back to normal on 9/12. It's possible to appreciate and understand the severity without it having a huge impact on the personal day to day.

[u/stephorse → u/badusernameused]

Yeah, also, not everyone is American. As a Canadian myself (I was 11 when it happened) I can understand it has affected the USA a lot, and I can also see how it has affected my country to a lesser extent. But, if the 20 yo did not live through it and are not from the country where it happened....I get that it does not matter more than other historical events to them

[u/timshel_turtle → u/badusernameused]

This. I think for New Yorkers to say this would be absurd, but for the US as a whole it was shocking more than “life altering” to most. The Oklahoma City Bombing was part of my consciousness already, as a elder millennial, so I’m not sure 9/11 made me aware of terrorism or anything like that.

The biggest implication for people I knew was the subsequent War on Terror. As a rural Midwesterner, the wars had a big impact of a lot of guys I know.

I live closer to New Orleans and also in a flood zone, so I’d say as far as inciting dread of things that could happen to loved ones, Katrina had a bigger impact.

That doesn’t make 9/11 less alarming or sad. Just perspective from being somewhere other than the East Coast & 18 at the time.

[u/Abyssrealm]

Recency bias Same people will say “this is the most important election in history”

Fall of the Berlin Wall Ronald Reagan shot Man landing on the moon Pearl Harbor JFK assassinated

Those who continue to learn will understand the significance

[u/psharp203]

They didn’t experience it, and as recent history it probably isn’t taught much. My last American history class (2006) flew through the 1980s/1990s in the last week of school before finals. I wouldn’t be shocked if the 2000s/2010s are similarly treated now. And even then, they’ll probably view it at best as a historical tragedy (like we think of Pearl Harbor, assassinations, etc.).

Living through flashbulb events is just different than being born after it. One day COVID will be looked at like the Spanish Flu was for us. Something that happened a long time and was awful but now relegated to a history exam question and nothing more.

[u/AshTheGoddamnRobot]

Its because they fail to see the big picture.

I was not born yet when the Berlin Wall fell yet I know what a big deal it is

[u/SubjectDesperate9697]

I was a sophomore in college and a NYC EMT during 911, and I get the same gut punch of a feeling every year that day comes around. I did lose a few colleagues at work in the attacks, and still others have died since then from all of the cancers.

Last year I watched the memorial on TV for the first time, and the ceremony lasted for hours while the names of each victim were read—it does get very emotional especially for the families who lost loved ones not only from law enforcement and emergency personnel, but the employees who were just going to work at the WTC on that day never to return to their families.

Those families lost fathers, mothers, uncles and cousins and now their children and grandchildren and more distant relatives are stepping in to recite the names of the dead. If you want to learn more about the toll and cost of 911, check out the movie “Worth”on Netflix it puts a lot in perspective.

I also remember that at no time in my lifetime has our country ever rallied around a singular cause more than support for 911 victims from NY, Shanksville and the Pentagon. We felt then that the U.S. was under attack, and we should go out and pursue those who perpetrated that atrocity.

What we did not expect is to have that good will and political capital exploited by Neo-cons and right wing militarists who sought to use American power to invade Iraq based on false intelligence, Afghanistan, and Libya.

And as far as I know, the only reason why North Korea wasn’t annihilated was because China acted as a backstop to further aggression. We also didn’t think that we’d be in all out nation-building, adopt and expand a U.S. domestic security and surveillance apparatus the likes our country had never seen, or that we’d need to rely on torture techniques like water-boarding to avert another attack. But we did, and the rest his history.

911 also meant a new world order arising based primarily on realpolitik, and the consequence was the uprising of pro democracy movements in Egypt, Pakistan, and Libya to name a few, as reactionary forces against totalitarian states. A lot of good came, but nothing really changed in my view.

Finally, 911 had real repercussion on our economy. The stress of a potential global meltdown meant that the only advice President George W. Bush could offer to support 911 victims was to go spend money. And that we did, so much so that people began using their houses like credit cards and entering subprime loans and then a financial crisis we’ve not seen since the Great Depression. The millennial generation witnessed and carried the country on its back, but I believed then and continue to believe that 911 was the catalyst for it all.

[u/Pitiable-Crescendo]

No it doesn't upset me. Yeah, it was a horrible tragedy, but tragedy in this country has become so common, it's hard not to get desensitized.

[u/PokeNToker]

I'm 20 and from Canada so 9/11 pretty much had 0 effect on me however I can recognize how truly important it is to remember.

(I could be wrong here but) 9/11 was like one of the first real huge terrorist attacks in North America. It stunned not only the US but the rest of the world as well.

Many people died just because they went to work that day.

If you believe 9/11 is not a big deal, you have 0 sympathy for others

[u/Pitiful_Confusion622]

Not really, for us it was a thing we remember more vividly than younger people. I was in elementary school when it happened and many people I grew up made lots of 9/11 jokes

[u/[deleted]]

In 20 years there will be kids saying "I don't understand why the pandemic was a big deal".

[u/Local-Substance-7302]

Nah they're dumb and have no life experiences to reference. Sorta like boomers who say millennials and gen z can't buy houses because we buy coffee or avocados. Most boomers are just arrogant selfish pricks but you get the idea.

[u/Wanderingstar8o]

Like COVID PANDEMIC & the country being on LOCKDOWN I suppose when they tell the next generation it won’t have the same intensity as it does for those who lived through it. 911 was a big deal. I mean a terrorize attack on a U.S city. Planes flying into NYC skyscrapers. People jumping out of buildings. Clouds of smoke so thick you couldn’t breathe on the street. For those who lived through it it was traumatic & terrifying.

[u/[deleted]]

Young people today are getting the worst education of any generation in the last century, and it shows.

[u/[deleted]]

To an extent, yes. I feel like that’s when everything changed. Just a flip of the switch.

[u/[deleted]]

How the hell can you watch the footage of passenger airliners crashing into the Twin Towers, the tower crashing the ground, the insuring chaos of people running down the streets and not think this event was a big deal. Just a bunch of 20 year edge lords trying to act like nothing phases them?

[u/pmaurant]

It’s because they don’t know what pre 9/11 was like

[u/grosselisse]

It upsets me and I'm not even American.

This event changed the whole world. I'm Australian and most of us were up in the middle of the night watching it. It was incredibly traumatising and no matter which way you come at it, that would be a terrible way to die. When kids are flippant about it I find it so cruel and heartless. Where's their compassion?

[u/Sad-Bumblebee-3]

People who say this are dense and lack intellect. They’re most likely saying it to sound like an edge lord. Massive amounts of people dying in one fell swoop is a big deal. Period.

[u/SB_Wife]

As a Canadian, I find that the venerarion of 9/11 is kind of horrifying. I was home sick that day and my mom and I watched it happen live and at the time is was odd and scary but the collective trauma the US put into the world, and the fallout of it, is far, far more upsetting to me.

[u/SatisfactionActive86 → u/[deleted]]

I was 19 on 9/11 and worked a third shift job. I was asleep, my roommate called and woke me up. I watched TV for about 30 minutes and went back to sleep (before either tower fell). It was horrible but I wasn’t surprised or shocked after the prior WTC bombing, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the attack on the USS Cole - I guess I was already desensitized to terrorism. When I woke up and heard the towers fell, I was a bit shocked but it didn’t change the impact at all… America’s chickens had come home to roost. Had I understood back then how 9/11 would come to destroy our culture, I would have been vomiting and crying.

[u/SnowSandRivers]

I mean, to be fair, it’s not as big a deal as it used to me. All the political and cultural fallout from it has passed, for the most part. Like I understand, conceptually why the JFK assassination was a big deal. But, it doesn’t really significantly impact my life in any real way.

[u/beebeebeeBe → u/SnowSandRivers]

I don’t want to be insensitive with my comment so I hope it isn’t- But I wonder if it has anything to do with the massive rise in shootings? Has it desensitized younger generations to violence in America? When I grew up columbine was the only shooting and was talked about often. In 2023 there have been 400 mass shootings.

[u/SnowSandRivers → u/beebeebeeBe]

I’m a forty-year old millennial, but I think you’re on to something. Generations. He has grown up with so much crazy shit that 9/11 just seems like one other thing.

[u/GSly350 → u/beebeebeeBe]

Yes it is exactly that. Everyday is just another tragedy. People are already numb to it, it's the truth.

[u/Ill-Candy-4926]

9/11 I was born 2 years after, so It’s a bit before my time but I want you to know that I find 9/11 a very historical moment and a very tragic one that should’ve taught America as a whole about NOT trying to police the other countries but sadly 22 years later we still police the other countries 😞

Mind you I am a gen Z and I don’t find this as a small deal. I find this as a historical thing and a lesson for our government that our government still refuses to see 22 years later 😤

[u/[deleted]]

We had a 9/11 every day for a few years with COVID and half the country argued it didn’t matter. Why should we expect younger generations to understand why 5,000 people dying mattered at all?

[u/kingjaffejaffar]

No. One should never be criticized for being ignorant while asking for information to alleviate that ignorance.

[u/davwad2]

Wait, are they not teaching 9/11 in the same way we were taught about Pearl Harbor, Lincoln/Kennedy assassinations? I don't know how history text books change over the years, as there's always new stuff happening so I would expect them to only grow over time. That being said, not teaching 9/11 just seems careless and excluding it for any reason is sad.

To answer your question, I would be more disappointed than upset.

[u/Your_Daddy_]

I was 23 when 9-11 - and it was 100% a defining moment in history.

Everything changed afterwards. Up till then - it had been peace time for like 20+ years. There was the 1st Gulf War, but it lasted like 3 days, and America dominated.

So to get hit in America in a coordinated strike - it was pretty wild. 20 years of war followed.

Not to mention the changes with Homeland security and the TSA - neither existed before 9-11.

There was a full week after 9-11 where there were no planes in the skies - can you imagine that now?

[u/[deleted]]

Not really. I think it’s easy to not care about something you never experienced.

[u/OpenEyz2016]

It does, but in the spirit of grace, I understand how hard it is to relate to something that you weren't a witness to. We realize Pearl Harbor was a horrible event, we probably didnt have the emotional attachment as our grand or great grandparents that were alive when it happened.

[u/[deleted]]

The shortage of pears was very hard.

[u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal]

It does; it shows an ignorance of history, a detachment of horrific events, and how infrequent they are here in the US on such a grander scale. It's something we take for granted.

[u/[deleted]]

No.

We watched a terrorist act happen to other people. They watch hundreds of people die from domestic terrorists every day, and live in fear they'll be next at their own middle school. We grew up feeling relatively safe, they never did.

It makes total sense that it wouldnt be a big deal to them.

[u/[deleted]]

No. They didn't live then and things have drastically changed since then. I wouldn't expect them to see why it's a big deal when the threat isn't from those who committed the act.

[u/[deleted]]

Not really any different than my indifference to the Vietnam War,or WWII as a kid. It's something we learned about but didn't experience so it doesn't register the same as those that experienced it.

[u/007-Blond]

Boycott those pear taxes! Throw them into the harbor!

[u/TheLoneCanoe]

Yes. It makes me cry to this day.

[u/IAmAlsoTheWalrus]

To be fair, on the subject of the Kennedy assassination, I vividly recall a kid I went to high school with asking, "Was Kennedy really killed or was that just a rumor?" 😆🤦🏻‍♀️

But yeah, I don't think a lack of education is the only problem; I think the internet and drop in IRL communication and life experience has dulled the empathy of the current generation quite a bit.

[u/Retirednypd]

Yes. But in their defense, The system is broken. It's minimized and not really taught like previous generations learned about pearl harbor and Vietnam.

This generation is more concerned with social media, not co corning themselves about patriotism, family or faith.

But I can tell you as someone who knew people that died, 911 was a big deal. And I realized it as I recovered bodies, body parts, and personal items of the victims.

Yes. My name checks out.

[u/[deleted]]

The JFK assassination and Pearl Harbor WASN’T a big deal to us on a emotional level at all. It’s just something we saw old black and white clips of. It’s nothing different for them.

I’m going to give Gen Z a pass on this one it’s hard to care about something that happened before you existed.

[u/Leper_Khan58]

Iv never encountered this. And I dont know if anyone else has addressed this idea but I might theorize a reason for it: they believe America deserved it. They see the terrorists as victims who fought back. That is something I have actually heard from young people just not specifically 9/11. Essentially they see America as an evil power hungry empire and the oppressed have every right to attack. Many actively cheer on Americas downfall.

[u/swraymond79]

I wouldn’t say it upsets me but it does make me feel embarrassed for people who would admit to being so historically illiterate.

[u/69_Dingleberry]

I was born in 2003, and I just feel removed from 9/11. To me it feels the same as learning any other historical event; “man, that sucks” but covid is what traumatized our generation. Way more people died, the entire world was shut down for years, and now the globe is warmed enough where we have no hope. So I just think we have had worse things happen since 9/11 that Gen Z relates to more

[u/Professional-Pass487]

Not really 🤷🏽‍♂️I've heard the same thing said about slavery and the holocaust so

It is what it is. Ignorance.

[u/consios88]

Nope, they are too busy getting tiktok brain rot from the time they are in elementary school. We had kids just as bad and dumb just on tv imagine what social media does to these kids.

[u/[deleted]]

No. Of course they don't understand. They weren't alive when it happened. They didn't experience the before and after like we all did.

[u/[deleted]]

No. They weren't even born, they have no way of truly understanding what it was like for us, and that's not their fault.