Because it's "History live".
There are a few moments in history that shaped the world in "before" and "after". 9/11 was one of these events. Or Pearl Harbor, or Attack on Poland in 1939, Challenger, moon landing, Chernobyl etc etc etc
When you as a teacher/parent know "this will change the world in one way or another", you need to gather the kids to witness that too.
You don't really need to watch a horrific event live to know that it happened though. None of the other things you mentioned needed to be livestreamed to be considered significant events in history. I'm not saying it should have been hidden, obviously, but making kids watch as the towers burn and people jump out of the building so they don't burn to death doesn't seem that necessary
Youre saying that with knowledge of what happened. After the first tower was hit, no one knew what was going on, just the a plane crashed into the WTC, that in itself made it a massive news story.
Then the 2nd tower was hit. Then the Pentagon. Were there 20 other targets? Are we in danger here? In my school its not like they were showing it to 2nd graders. But there was no sense in hiding it from kids that were going to witness it anyway. It was important.
That's exactly what I mean though, if it had been an accident then what would have been the value in showing it to kids? That actually makes it weirder.
And regardless of whether it was an accident or not you're still making kids watch people dying in class. Like I said earlier I'm not saying it should be hidden, just there's quite a lot of distance between hiding something and making them watch it in class
Children, as in middle schoolers and highschoolers were a whole lot less sheltered 25 years ago compared to today. And you are not doing them any favors by sheltering them.
Go ahead and ask anybody who remembers this day in school, like me, and I doubt any of them (or atleast the vast majority) looking back wishes they were sheltered from it. I dont.
Okay but like that's kind of like boomers saying "well back in my day my parents beat the shit out of me and I turned out fine" when like they kind of don't seem like they turned out fine?
I dunno dude I was just asking why it was on in classrooms you don't gotta make it about kids being too sheltered these days
Yes it is a bit like that. But since the time when boomers were raised getting beat, we've learned a lot about better parenting techniques and how hitting your kids is in the long term detrimental to their well being, cruel, and ineffective compared to other methods of teaching a lesson to raise well rounded people.
The answer to your question was, as others have said, because it was a major event that was going to effect everyone and that they were watching for the same reason everyone in the world was watching. Showing it to third graders and below, to pick a grade, would have definitely been weird, though I am sure it happened somewhere.
Yeah, I was in 3rd grade when it happened. School didn't show us it, but my parents woke me up to tell me what had happened, and I saw some of it on TV, which they were watching. And I'm glad they did, even if I didn't fully understand the implications of what was happening. It stands out to me in memory not just because of the event itself, but because it was the first time in my life I had ever seen adults be afraid.
You kinda sound like someone, who says "There is no attack on the twintowers in Ba Sing Sei" and mean it
Just telling kids that a plane hits a building is an abstract thought. A plane doesn't live, a house doesn't live. Most kids crashed their Lego planes into lego houses. So it means nothing to them.
But showing them.. LIVE what happens, when a real plane hits a real building, is history happening.
Watching a video of it is not "real" real, because of the cuts that were made. But here? Look, there is something burning... see that thing falling, what is that? Bob, zoom in plea... FUCK, THATS A HUMAN FALLING FROM THE UPPER FLOORS!
Kids wil learn, that Death is something, that happens everytime, not in the past and only on video tape
I would accept the flat earth argument if they turned out like that cause they lacked evidence or proof of the reality, but they just say everything is a lie, you could flood every single piece of their media with proof and facts, and they will just negate every one of them
I know you went back-and-forth with someone about this, but I’m one of those Americans that watched it in school so I can just share how I felt.
It did feel important and real and a way that history and politics had never done before. I was 14 or so at the time. I don’t personally know anyone that was upset seeing it, and there were so many people that could’ve had relatives involved and so everyone knew that there’s no possible way in this moment for us to say “ don’t mind that, pay attention to algebra and figure out what’s going on later”.
I doubt they were trying to show toddlers what was going on because they wouldn’t be able to understand it, but adults used their judgment and I am thankful that they let us be present for that moment in my country’s history.
Edit: also after rereading your comment I wanted to be clear that they never MADE us watch it. If someone found it upsetting or just didn’t want to, that was ok.
The real answer is that Challenger was watched live by a bunch of school children because there was a teacher aboard and no one expected it to blow up, and likewise the second twin tower hit was seen by so many people cause then first strike was breaking news but it was presumed to be an accident. They were already watching for a different reason.
I don't think those things are comparable though because something going wrong at the Challenger launch was entirely unexpected and if it had not gone wrong it could reasonably be considered educational, or at least vaguely inspirational. With 9/11 something had already gone wrong when coverage started of the plane hitting the first tower and I think the educational category is harder to apply to that
If you weren't alive then it might be hard to understand, but you could go days and days without hearing any news. Occasionally dramatic things caused everyone to stop and look at the the TV or turn up the radio because the normal broadcast was interrupted with breaking news the broadcaster had deemed important enough that it couldn't wait for the evening news.
Nowadays everything is like this, but in 2001 I heard the second half of 9/11 happen because the jazz station my 5th grade teacher had on was interrupted for special live news coverage of an ongoing tragedy in the middle of the most connected city on the continent.
The second plane hit was entirely unexpected, like challenger.
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u/uk_uk 13h ago
Because it's "History live".
There are a few moments in history that shaped the world in "before" and "after". 9/11 was one of these events. Or Pearl Harbor, or Attack on Poland in 1939, Challenger, moon landing, Chernobyl etc etc etc
When you as a teacher/parent know "this will change the world in one way or another", you need to gather the kids to witness that too.