Teaching the next generation...

After talking to another mom about 9/11 the other day, I have some thoughts.  She has kids the same age as my kids, one is in 6th grade and the other is in 2nd.  I asked her if they learned about 9/11 in school.  She looked at her older daughter and asked her and her daughter said, "No, it makes my teacher too sad, so he didn't teach us anything about it," I then asked the mom if they talked about it at home and she said no, it also makes her too sad.  So in the end, her daughter (and I am assuming the younger one too), did not learn about 9/11 this year at all.

My questions is...how are we supposed to "never forgot" if we don't teach it on to the next generation???  How are we supposed to learn about the hate in this world and what we can do about it?? How do we learn that the god they were serving is NOT the God that we serve today?? I am very passionate about this and when the mom said that the kids didn't learn about it at all, I honestly felt sad for the kids.

I feel it as a great privilege to be able to teach my kids about 9/11. Is it sad? YES Was it a terrible thing to happen to our country?? YES Was it a day full of hatred? Absolutely! Was it easy to watch a video on the computer and watch Megan's eyes tear up? NO! But she needs to know what happened! We can not let this day go by every year and not teach our kids about it!

We had the great opportunity last year to visit Ground Zero with the kids. I think this year the pictures helped put it all into perspective for the kids, especially after we watched a video of the timeline of the day.  We also watched short videos on how they made the memorial and short videos of how people survived as they escaped the towers. 

May it truly be a day that NOBODY ever forgets!