I have a video of the news coverage of 9/11, starting with the "hey, great normal day in NYC" and moving to the OMGosh of newscasters watching the towers collapse live on air, to the questions about the plane crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Every year, I show it to my classes, no assignment, no writing, just watch. Sometimes there are questions, sometimes there is just shock, occasionally some BS, very rarely is there no reaction at all.
This year has already been hard, just preparing to watch it again in light of current events. Realizing that it's been 20 years. Realizing that the same people who allowed this attack to be planned out and prepped for in their country is back in control of that same country. Realizing that these kids really don't know what happened. Yes, they are in middle school and are young and dumb. No, they shouldn't be experts on the events of 9/11. But I'm halfway through my day and already have seen too much lack of basic knowledge and comprehension about what happened on that fateful day, or how it has effected them their whole lives (TSA, Patriot Act, military in Afghanistan). More disappointment at our schools, our society, our media, our people just failing future generations. This is how we get a senile puppet in the White House. This is how we get 20 years of fighting for no real progress in Afghanistan, then an unholy cluster of a pullout that opens up opportunity for either another 9/11 to be prepped or for death by a thousand cuts/"lone wolf" attacks.
