9/11 to a child

Column originally published 9-14-06

Sept. 11 sparks talk

By Kelvin Wade

Monday's article in the Daily Republic about teaching youngsters about Sept. 11 struck a chord with me. It appears the Fairfield-Suisun School District is all over the map in what teachers teach about that fateful day. It's hard to know what to say to very young children. I recently had a discussion about Sept. 11 with my girlfriend's

9-year-old granddaughter, Lauryn.

We were watching "Splash" (because she's going through a mermaid phase) when a shot of the twin towers filled the screen and I gasped. Lauryn asked me what was wrong and I told, "It's just . . . the twin towers. The World Trade Center."

She stared at me blankly and I knew at that moment she knew nothing about Sept. 11, 2001.

I went over the events and she listened, fascinated. I was kind of surprised that her face didn't betray any fear or anxiety. She was matter-of-fact as she took it in.

"Who are the terrorists? Are they like cab drivers?" I don't know where she'd heard that. I told her you couldn't tell by looking at them and likened it to the talks we'd had about strangers and not being able to distinguish good from bad. We discussed Islam as well.

On Monday night, we tuned into the end of the ABC movie "Path to

9-11," late enough to avoid all of the revisionism. I knew they would use the actual footage of the attacks and I thought the movie would provide better context for a child than video clips.

When United Airlines Flight 175 screamed across the sky and struck the side of the south tower and erupted into a horrific orange and black ball of flame, smoke and debris, Lauryn sat staring at the screen intently. She finally asked an agonizing question.

"Is this real?" You want to say no. You want to say its just special effects. You don't want a child to know that unpredictable monstrous evil like that exists in the world. But her mother, who was sitting beside her, confirmed that it was actual footage.

We discussed Flight 77's crash into the Pentagon. Then I had to explain what the Pentagon was.

It was the story of United 93 that seemed to move her the most. She was amazed that people fought back against the terrorists but shocked that they'd died.

Finally, she asked, "Why did the terrorist do that? Did they do that for no reason?"

Her mother told her, "They disagree with how the United States acts in the world. We may disagree, but they have their reasons."

I was struck by how inquisitive Lauryn was about the event. And throughout our discussions she didn't display the apprehension, fear or sadness I might have expected.

Maybe it's because these events play like an old movie to her. But I suppose it was like when I learned of Martin Luther King's assassination when I was a child. It didn't have the poignancy until I was older and could put it in proper context.

Remarkably, one of the most illuminating moments in our discussion Monday night came while watching a scene in "Path to 9-11" where Mohammad Atta is eating with a fellow hijacker. Lauryn said, "There's the Iraqis."

I corrected her and told her that Atta was Egyptian. I told her none of the 19 hijackers were Iraqis. At that point, Lauryn's mom bolted upright and said, "None of them? Then what are we doing in Iraq?" No doubt she was thinking about her husband who is currently working near Tikrit.

That would be fodder for a future discussion. Peace.