On Nickelodeon tonight there will be a show hosted by Nick News commentator Linda Ellerbee entitled "What Really Happened on Septemeber 11?" Geared to children, particularly those who were born after the tragedy, this show seeks to demystify and explain the day. I haven't seen it, don't know what ages it's appropriate for, but am taping it tonight at 9 pm. Sis and Bud have had questions. They've heard about the Towers (particularly from the book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein), know from being in the city that they're not there anymore, and wonder why. I find myself unusually at a loss for words to tell first graders about terrorism, hate, fear, destruction, tragedy, war even if you can also tinge it with stories of heroism, survival, recovery, renewal, without unduly worrying or scaring them but recognizing that they should know (Lambeth, what did your parents tell you about Nazis and the war at your young age? Though, at some point, being in London, you probably couldn't escape knowing, though the details of camps came later). So I'm going to see if this show can help me, even if I don't let them watch it now. Because I want them to hear it from me first. -=-=-=-=-=-
Review, 9/3/11: I just watched the September 11th special on Nickelodeon that I mentioned a few days ago. First, I highly recommend it. It's succinct, not overly dramatic or emotional (though I did tear up), direct, informational, not extremely visually disturbing (especially given the subject matter), child-oriented, reassuring, not political (which is an accomplishment), and definitely captures the feel of being in NYC that day and the ones following. But I don't think I'll be showing it to the kids this year. It's probably better for 8-10 year olds, with its discussion of Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, WMD, etc etc etc. Which is just too much detail for 6 year olds. But it did give me some ways of discussing the day with them, particularly the "why" part, which the show explained, and I simplify, as the terrorists believed in violence as a way to hurt the US and promote their extreme religious views. So, I'll keep the show DVR'd for now and think on how we'll spend the tenth anniversary, since September 11 is always a family day for us.
I was 10.5 on Sep 3 1039 and already knew that Nazis were evil, my parents had been through WW1 and as far as they were concerned the only good Germans were dead ones, an extremist view but quite common.During the war I had relatives killed at the front, neighbours houses bombed and saw dead bodies being taken from a building. These were facts of life, not every day but not considered too remarkable. At 14.5 I was given a rifle, practiced using it with live ammunition and would have done my best to kill the enemy. Me and thousands of others. When I was last in NYC you offered to take me to ground zero and I declined saying that I had seen too much damage already. Tell the children what you can within their limits of understanding, enormous criminal damage to buildings is really similar to damage to a person but on a different scale. The main thing is that they should always be cautious but not frightened.
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