Teachers make plans for lesson on Sept.11(you won't believe this)

Mercury News ^ | 7/16/01 | Dana Hull

[LarryLied]

In less than two months, the United States will observe the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- and teachers are already thinking about how to mark the day in their classrooms.

In the Bay Area, a dozen middle- and high-school social studies teachers are at San Francisco State University this week for a seminar on ``Understanding the World After September 11.''

[HalfIrish]

Ah, yes.. the world community. Who's the President of the world? Anyone know?

[Betty Jane]

I have no idea yet if the school I work at will be doing something this year on September 11.

When the attacks happened most of the kids and teachers were on the way to school (school starts at 8:00 MT). So we mostly had heard radio reports. We don't have T.V.'s in the classroom, so the only info we got were reports by phone.

After the pentagon was hit, a quick meeting was called. The principal informed us to not say anything other than what we had heard. The kids actually knew more than we did because they had an extra half hour. All we could say was we didn't know what was happening or who did it. we were told not to spend much time on it and to go on as if everything was o.k. until we knew more. Our job was to act normal so the kids wouldn't freak out.

any kid who asked to go home or call parents should be allowed. None did, although many parents came and picked up their kids when they were sent home from work.

During recess, the seventh and eighth graders held a prayer ring around theh flag pole. Some teachers joined in, but the kids initiated it.

I think if we do anything it will be, a moment of silence. Most of our parents are conservative and will have no problem with that. Our Veteran's Day ceremony will probably be a little larger than it has been. (we've had a Marine Color Guard raise the flag and veterans speak and then everyone says the Pledge and sings the National Anthem).

One thing for sure, is we won't have any blame America people or the we deserved it crowd invited.

[willgetsome]

LOL...and people wonder why Johnny Jihad came into existence.

My only hope is that there are more Johnny Spanns out there than Johnny Jihads.

[Maelstrom]

Yup...good day to keep kids home.

[ladtx]

Who's the President of the world? Anyone know?

Bubba would go for it. Think of allllll the women.

[AmishDude]

Ping.

[mysterio]

I don't see the problem with teaching kids about the terrorists. You can't stop something that you can't understand. You want them to fight the enemy uneducated and unprepared?

I think the civil liberty balance is critical. In fact, I hope some of you go to attend class that day. Because you sure got hoodwinked into supporting invasive government in the guise of national security.

Losing freedom and living in fear is not the America that I know.

If Clinton would have enacted these policies, you all would have been screaming until your lungs burst. And I would be right there screaming with you. I asked this on another thread and got no answers :

When Republicans bloat government and steal your freedoms, why do you give them a pass?

[weikel]

Im proclaiming myself Emperor and President of the world I hereby abolish income taxes and public schooling everywhere( revenue will come from the lottery). Gambling and prostitution will be legal in red light districts drugs will be in your own home and in red light districts. Car theft will be the equivalent of horse theft in the old west and punishable by death( as long as there is no question of fact). Citizens may bear any arms they wish excluding NBC weapons except within Imperial City( I have to worry about being assasinated you know so I only want the guards bearing arms there). Also the ruling classes of the following countries are to be executed France, Belgium and about everywhere in the Middle East. Thats all I can think of now the Emperor will issue more decrees tommorow.

[Timesink]

(you won't believe this)

If it involves public school teachers, I'll believe anything.

[FreeTally]

I don't see the problem with teaching kids about the terrorists. You can't stop something that you can't understand. You want them to fight the enemy uneducated and unprepared?

Do you really think people such as

... San Francisco State faculty experts in areas such as American foreign policy, Islamic culture and civil liberties,....

will say anything other than that "terrorists are misunderstood" and that "America should give money to those countries and stop supporting the real terrorists, the jews"?

[SkyPilot]

Who's the President of the world? Anyone know?

If you believe what the Book of Revelation says, the Anti-Christ will take that position.

Perhaps these atheistic liberals who wish for "one world" should read about what happens when they finally get their dream.

[weegee]

I didn't see any mention of showing footage and photos of the attacks, damage, "celebrations", domestic anti-Israel rallies in SF and DC, or subsequent attacks by the shoe bomber, the Tampa teen kamikaze, or the anthrax of "mysterious" origin.

Too much of this is trying to be touchy-feely about understanding what drove all of these people to these actions.

The kids must be informed about Islamic history. How about Jewish history? Christian history? The times when arabs enslaved the Jews? The Crusades that were a drive to stop the invading hordes of muslims into Europe. The hundreds of years that muslims controlled Spain; what did they do?

This is not to foster the notion that all muslims are of the mind "join or die" but at least present this as a historically held position that the fundamentalists hold today. Even our "friends" the Saudis do not permit other religions within their nation. Where were the 9/11 attackers from?

[watchin]

I think his name is Lucifer something-or-other.

[LarryLied]

I didn't see any mention of showing footage and photos of the attacks, damage, "celebrations", domestic anti-Israel rallies in SF and DC, or subsequent attacks by the shoe bomber, the Tampa teen kamikaze, or the anthrax of "mysterious" origin.

Absolutely not! The National Association of School Psychologists is coordinating this nationwide, here are their "tips" on what is appropiate:

Memorial Activities At School: A List of "Do's" and "Don'ts"

Memorial activities can be a valuable way for schools to mark the anniversary of a tragic event, such as the first anniversary of September 11.  How a school approaches a memorial can make the difference in the healing nature of the process. Following are a few Do’s and Don’ts to avoid further traumatizing students and promote a positive experience.  For more information on the “anniversary effect” and memorials, go to www.nasponline.org

Do	Don't
Do prepare for the needs of youth both preceding and following memorial activities in the community or school.	Don't underestimate the resurfacing of intense common grief reactions, including sadness and anger.
Do keep parents and staff informed of all upcoming activities related to the memorial plan, and allow any student, with parental permission, to attend a memorial activity.	Don't require all students or staff to attend a memorial activity.
Do provide staff and parents with information regarding possible related behaviors and emotions that students may display.	Don't pathologize normal grief reactions.  Conversely, do not minimize serious, atypical grief reactions that may require closer clinical investigation.
Do focus on the needs and goals related to the students, and include parents and community members in activities as appropriate.	Don't try to accomplish all things in the school context; there are multiple forums to which the school staff, administration, and faculty may contribute that do not occur at school.
Do be sensitive to developmental and cultural differences when developing memorials.	Don’t assume that “one size fits all” when it comes to developing a memorial.
Do develop living memorials (e.g., tolerance programs) that address the problems that lead to the crisis event.	Don’t allow the memorial to be a forum for expressions of hatred and anger toward the perpetrators of crises.
Do something to prevent other crises from happening.  Try to move students from the role of “victims” to the role of “doers.”	Don’t focus the memorial on the uncontrollable aspects of the crisis.
Do emphasize signs of recovery and hope in any memorial activity.	Don’t allow a memorial to simply recount tales of the traumatic stressor.
Do allow students to discuss, in small group settings, such as classrooms, how they feel about their memorial experiences.	Don’t schedule a memorial at such a time that it will not allow students to “debrief” or process their experiences.
Do encourage communication (e.g., writing letters and exchange of ideas) related to memorial activities.	Don't force students to participate or share feelings and ideas.
Do provide a referral system (school and community based) to identify youth who display complicated grief reactions and ensure appropriate support services are available.	Don't expect that staff and faculty will be able to independently identify individuals in need of mental health assistance.
Do establish an infrastructure (plans and processes) to provide assistance and support to students in immediate need.	Don’t anticipate that students will independently seek out the appropriate professional assistance.

[Prodigal Son]

``My 7-year-old daughter doesn't have a strong grasp of what happened, but my 11-year-old son would run for cover any time he saw a plane,'' she said.

You know, I have never given this any thought nor have I heard it addressed but- a lot of kids who were between say, 5 to 12 years of age on 9/11/01 are going to have phobias of flying and of airplanes now. I think when we see this group of children reach adulthood they'll become an economic dynamic- sort of an anti Baby boomers. The air travel industry will suffer, there will be loads of people getting rich writing books directed at these people, probably certain types of insurance will be popular among them etc etc. You will probably also see a drop in the number of people in this age group who go to pilot school, join the Air Force etc.

This is totally fascinating to think about. Shoot, I might start researching a book called "Self Help for Those Who Fear to Fly" and have that baby ready for this market. I would also predict a wide variety of things this age group will do that might seem a bit out of step with what one would expect from children who experienced "ordinary childhoods". Perhaps they'll be more conservative. Perhaps they'll be overly obsessed with security and politicians will have to play to them to get votes. Perhaps they will also become xenophobic at least towards Middle Easterners. There's always knock on effects that are hard to predict, but we've got about ten years to think of the ways to capitalize on this dynamic.

[mountaineer]

Do allow students to discuss, in small group settings, such as classrooms, how they feel about their memorial experiences.... Do provide a referral system (school and community based) to identify youth who display complicated grief reactions and ensure appropriate support services are available.... Don't expect that staff and faculty will be able to independently identify individuals in need of mental health assistance.

Good grief, we have become a nation of perpetual infants.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Johnny Jihad couldn't carry Johnny Spanns JS.

[LarryLied]

The dynamic might be the opposite of what you suspect. In 4th grade, I was terrified of above-ground A-Bomb tests.I calculated exactly when the spring rains would bring the high atmospheric radiation to CT and kill us all.The drills we had facing the wall so the flash of an atomic bomb would not melt our eyes fueled my concern.

The result today is I want every American who supported the Soviet Union put behind bars and I want communism wiped off the face of the earth. I like to see A-bombs go off. Let's me think of how many Reds are being vaporized.

[B4Ranch]

Don’t allow the memorial to be a forum for expressions of hatred and anger toward the perpetrators of crises.

This may provoke thoughts of REVENGE and we may lose a few raghead personel!!!!