Teachers struggle for lessons on 9/11 for students too young to remember

FoxNews.com ^ | 9/15/11 | Kathleen Foster

[ImNotLying]

"Mrs. Judd? How come they flew into the towers?" Joan Judd spent her summer vacation preparing for questions like that from her fourth-grade class in Milford, N.Y.

[ImNotLying]

I'm sure Mrs Judd struggled all summer with how she could teach the facts and still be politically correct.

[Biggirl]

Considering that there are teachers who DO NOT want a CERTAIN organization by the name of CAIR getting all worked up.

[mazda77]

Exactly. So Miss Judd, just how tough is the plain, simple truth? Isn’t this the perfect snapshot of the larger problem with our society as a whole right now?

[BenKenobi]

You mean it wasn’t evil Amish flying them as protests against commercialism and the moral degredation of capitalism?

Learn something new every day.

[Roccus]

"I don't know how to approach it without saying, 'These monsters attacked us'," said a grade school teacher who didn't want to be identified. "There has to be another way to say it."

WHY ?

[winoneforthegipper]

My son(12) was told that we were attacked and now hated by the Muslim world for our defense of Israel and our trade policy with the Arab Nations.

I penned a letter.

[BelleAl]

As a former educator, I can sympathize with this. It’s not so much political correctness, it’s trying not to freak 5 and 6 year olds out.

It’s a hard presentation. While I don’t believe in hiding the truth, these are still innocents and they already have enough monsters living under the bed.

During Gulf War 1, my young daughter was convinced Saddam Hussein was coming to get her in her bed. Vivid imagination, that one!

[ImNotLying]

“It’s a touchy subject, and it is largely up to individual teachers to decide whether they want to touch it at all.”

Mrs Judd, How do you teach WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese? Or is that a touchy subject also and you just don’t teach it at all? Let’s just leave all those ugly, touchy historical facts out of the history books and everybody will be happy.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The lesson is easy.

They’re struggling with how to NOT teach it...in order to be “politically correct”.

[ImNotLying]

These were fourth graders, not 5 year olds. At what age can we start to teach history? They want us to teach sex education to elementary students now, why not HISTORY?

[who knows what evil?]

"I don't know how to approach it without saying, 'These monsters attacked us'," said a grade school teacher who didn't want to be identified. "There has to be another way to say it."

This twit needs to find another job...get away from our children.

[Lady Lucky]

Mrs. Judd, do you agonize over what to tell them about homosexuality? How about abortion?

[who knows what evil?]

"It's a touchy subject, and it is largely up to individual teachers to decide whether they want to touch it at all."

Facts are touchy???

[who knows what evil?]

"It's a touchy subject, and it is largely up to individual teachers to decide whether they want to touch it at all."

Facts are touchy???

[Biggirl]

Anyone who teaches or has had taught younger kids, grade 4 and under, to translate what you said are in a bind or struggle with what to do, because there was so much horror to that day itself and after only 10 years, it is still a raw subject.

Even in grade 5, which I remember growing up, USA history starts to get taught, you got to easy with presenting the subject because of the toughness of it.

From what I read, not suprised about your daugther having had fear during PG War 1, that Saddam Hussein was though to have been what was called a “boggie man”. I was thinking also the Bin Ladin was called that a little over a decade later by the little kids at the time.

[Graybeard58]

Mrs Judd, How do you teach WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Are you ever off base! My teacher, Mr. Bluto told us the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

[hal ogen]

What is with these inadequate, soft-headed, PC, numb-minded “educators”? Just be honest with the kids. moozlum terrorists hate non-moozlums and killed thousands because of their hatred. The kids must learn to deal with reality. Do you want a nation of wimpy children who can’t face anything??? (just like this “educator”)

[BelleAl]

I have a BIG problem with sex education being taught to little ones. I’m a huge history buff — I’m not against talking about 9/11 — it’s just hard to do with the younger kids.

Within our history curriculum, 4th graders learn pre-history to the Civil War and 5th graders learn from the Civil War to the present. Our state tends to be conservative, and I haven’t noticed any PC doctrine in the elementary school. Teachers at the high school are a different story, though!

9/11 could be discussed at any grade, but currently it is not officially part of our standards for younger grades. These kids are learning about our founders like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and other historical figures like Johnny Appleseed, Lincoln, Lewis and Clark and MLK. 3rd graders learn about ancient Greek culture and it’s influence on the American Government system. 2nd graders learn about our state history and native Indian tribes. I have found that it’s pretty solid.

[Admin Moderator]

This isn’t Activism.

[ml/nj]

"Mrs. Judd? How come they flew into the towers?"

"Well, Johnny, they wanted to kill infidels. They are Muslims who read this book (lifting copy of the Koran). Infidels are Christians, Jews and people who don't believe in anything; and won't change their minds about it. Even if you did change your mind you could still be killed because there are different groups of Muslims and they hate each other because people in each group think the others aren't following all the rules in this book (lifting copy of the Koran). The best thing you can do is stay far away from Muslims. They are not good people."

ML/NJ