My kids were nine and six on September 11, 2001.?‚? They stayed at school that day, and heard appropriate dribs and drabs of what what was going on.?‚? At home, their father and I, who were still married at the time, told them that terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York and they collapsed, killing thousands of people.?‚? How sad it was.?‚? How wrong it was.?‚? How sad we were. How wronged we felt. I was outwardly distraught, inwardly panic-stricken.?‚? I sat riveted to the television watching the unimaginable events come to life before my eyes. But my kids, safe in a Midwestern suburb, with their parents safe not far away, continued watching watching Sponge Bob, Power Rangers and Arthur.

Now, on September 11, 2006, my kids are 14 and 11. They?‚? are much better equipped to handle some of the images that will be replayed today. They’re politically aware and they’re savvy.?‚? But, I’m still going to choose what they see today, and how they see it.?‚? At their ages, five years is a lifetime.?‚?

They remember nothing?‚? but growing up in a world when homeland?‚? security is?‚? familiar terminology?‚? and the war on terror is a known entity.?‚? They will live their most formative and memorable years at a time where we do not take safety for granted.?‚? They instinctively?‚? take off their shoes before going through airport security.?‚? ?‚? Their trips?‚? to New York City will only ever include visits to a changing Ground Zero and pointing fingers to where the towers once stood, and then fell.

While I believe it’s my job to convey the seriousness of the events that enveloped our nation that day, I also believe in allowing?‚? my children to continue to exist in the safety of their world that was untouched.?‚? While it feels like yesterday to me, it feels like history to them.?‚?

I don’t want my?‚? kids completely shielded from reality,?‚? I just want them to be kids.?‚? I want to help them understand, at?‚? an age-appropriate level,?‚? what happened then as well as what is happening now.?‚? What I?‚? don’t want is for this information to color the world they know - which is good - albeit with its own inherent flaws.?‚? ?‚?

I usually encourage my kids to hunker down next to me and watch the news.

Not today.?‚?

Bookmark to:
    

While watching the Jim Lehrer Report the other night, I was a bit surprised by an interview I heard with New York Times columnist David Brooks. Mr. Brooks was asked to reflect upon what he personally felt?‚? September 11th?‚? did to our country and where we are five years later as a result. He answered by saying that prior to 9/11 he shared a sense that despite cultural differences, human beings were fundamentally the same and wanted the same things, but that since 9/11, he had come to the realization that human beings have different moral orders that sometimes conflict and that humans form ???‚¬?“tribes???‚¬?? that are solidified by hating other people. He finished by saying that he now finds human beings to be much more unalike than he once thought them to be.

I was surprised by his answer because I guess I don???‚¬?„?t agree that people are?‚? essentially that different. Sure, our cultures are quite diverse, but when it comes to?‚? our fundamental natures, I have always felt that human beings are really very similar. The events of September 11th haven’t changed that for me. I?‚? still believe that people the world over do want the same things. And here, I’m not talking about extremists who resort to violence against innocent civilians. I don’t believe that those people represent the majority. No, here I am speaking of the average person. And particularly, the average mother.

Moreover, I?‚? believe that if you polled mothers from?‚? America, Iraq, Europe, Israel, Palestine and other countries throughout the world and asked them what is most important to them, you would find?‚? many similarities. I believe they would say things like:

health care for themselves and, especially, for their children
safe and peaceful places to live
potable water
clean environments
access to affordable, healthy?‚? food
sewage systems that work
jobs that pay a living wage
freedom to worship their religion of choice
access to quality education

Maybe I’m wrong, but these are the things that I think would make the list.
So, I guess if I were asked how my perspective has changed since September 11th, my answer would be somewhat different. I would have said that I have learned that we are not cocooned. That we are living in a global society and that the decisions?‚? made by?‚? our world leaders?‚? will affect?‚? all people. And that we, as a human race, will face the consequences of the type of world we create together–whether good or bad.

And that maybe, just maybe, our world would be different if our leaders?‚? based their decisions?‚? on what the average mother wants.

Perhaps they should start?‚? by taking a poll.
?‚?

Bookmark to: