History curriculum in the United States school system revolves around the limited amount of time teachers have for a vast amount of information, as well as a concern for performance on standardized tests.
These factors point to the reason that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are rarely taught about in school. An article on the International Business Times states other aspects that contribute as well, “The lack of a unified approach and updated textbooks has teachers and education experts alike concerned about how to fill the information vacuum, even as they see struggles in the classroom as paralleling the rocky path of the U.S. itself in piecing together the aftermath of one of the most emotionally charged events in recent history.”
This year marks the 14th anniversary, and as we get further away from the attacks students no longer have memories of watching the planes crashing into the buildings on television. As a result they must rely on their educators to teach them.
Leigh Campbell-Hale, a teacher in Colorado, was quoted in the same IBT article saying: “It’s kind of too recent to be history. We’re still in the middle of defining what this moment means. The fact that there’s no clear outcome to what happened makes it difficult to teach.”
Although 9/11 is still recent history, not an event with a definitive outcome like the Civil War that ended in 1895 and holds an important place in history curriculum, it is still important. Students in schools must be taught this information, even if it is difficult to do so.
According to IBT, for a majority of the United States, education pertaining to 9/11 occurs on, or around, the date and rarely other times. The further one gets from the site of the Twin Towers, the less significant the remembrance efforts become.
These terrorist attacks had a widespread effect on our country; citizens lost loved one, fears of future attacks were heightened, and airport security was significantly reformed. 9/11 left an impact on our country, and because of this it deserves a spot in history curriculum outside of the anniversary.