Do your younger children know about 9-11?

[EthansMom]

DS was 1 month old on 9-11 and will be 5 next month. He and I have discussed how some "bad men" flew airplanes into some buildings, the buildings "blew up" and a lot of people died. That's as much information as he can handle at this point, IMO.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I had talked about it on the other thread. Nice to see I'm not alone...

 

[KelNottAt]

My kids were 9 and 7 (4th and 2nd grades). Yes, they remember it well.

Slightly off topic, I have no memories of MLK and RFK assassinations. I would have been just weeks shy of my 4th birthday at the time. I find it amazing so many Dissers' wee ones (younger than I was in 1968) remember 9/11. I've always wondered if I have a memory defect. Now even moreso. (But it's not too bad. I do remember Apollo 11 in July, 1969, when I was 5.)

 

[JVL1018]

My daughter was almost 2 when 9/11 happened, and my son was 6 days old, so obviously they were way too little to get it.
My husband is a firefighter here in NJ a few miles out of NYC, there are references to 9/11 everywhere, nto just in parks and stuff, but also on firetrucks that thay see all the time. It's talked about still, so my kids have asked.

I told them very terrible people flew planes into two really tall buildings and the buildings collapsed, killing everyone who couldn't get out as well as police officers who were trying to help them out and 343 firefighters who were doing the same.
I haven't told them about the Pentagon really , just in passing, nor the crash in PA, but they know what it is. Not sure if they would say Oh? 9/11? Sure! It was when the buildings fell.
But if you asked DD especially if she knows that buildings fell in the city and what happened, she knows.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just wanted to note that the absence of any information regarding a tragedy from your childs repertoire of data--is not indicative of willfully sheltering your child from the goings on of the world.

For some--certain events just do not come up on the radar until it is time.

My daughters don't know about the holocaust--the oklahoma city bombing, columbine, or the explosion of the Challenger either.

*Shelter* has such a negative connotation and to suggest that it is a bad thing to not tell young ones whose families weren't personally affected is rather silly. There are a whole world of things that young children don't know--and things they don't need to know until it can be told to them when it is developmentally apporpriate for them to even try to understand.

 

[clori]

My dd6 was 16months at the time. I have told her little bits such as bad people used planes to kill people etc. I have told her that people in NYC, DC and Pennsylvania were killed. I don't think I could completely shelter her. I live in a city outside of Boston where two hijackers resided for months before the attack (not known until after). Occasionally she hears people mentioning that. We take public transportation regularly and when she was 4 we were on the mbta bus on 9/11. The bus and all the cars around us pulled over in the morning for a moment of silence. There was a man pretty much crying on the bus. DD in her 4 year old innocence asked if he was hurt. He said something like he was sad because it was the anniversary of his friend's death. We have spoken to one of dh's college friends with dd around who worked in the WTC (she arrived closer to 9 and basically walked away). I have also told dd that I personally knew one of the people on one of the Boston planes who was killed and that dh worked with a person who was also killed. I do expect 9/11 to be history to dd. She doesn't remember the frantic calls from my relatives checking on dh's relatives (he is from Manhatten where most still live), the week of nervous waiting to hear from dh's college friend and my friend (her brother used to work at the WTC but I didnt know he had changed jobs) who had gotten stuck on a business trip in Miami. She doesn't remember going to NYC about two weeks later (preplanned) and having tons of people approach us with have you seen posters. Last year kindergarten started on 9/12 but this year dd will be going to school earlier. I am guessing the school may mention 9/11 since many people in this area were personally affected but I want to be the first one to explain (in simple terms) what happened.

 

[tinkamom]

My DD was almost eight on 9/11 and remembers everything about it. She still worries about it happening again and sometimes has nightmares about terrorists. It was impossible to sheild her from it at the time because every tv station and radio station was airing only 9/11 coverage. I picked her up from school early that day and she was one of the last kids left in the school! I don't think there was anyone on Long Island who didn't know at least one person who died that day.

 

[momsully]

DS7 was only 2.5 and DS4 was born a month after 9/11. They both know about what happened that day in very basic terms. DS4 knows that bad people knocked down the buildings with airplanes and DS7 knows a little more about the actual events as well as the current war in Iraq. DS7 has already asked to go to DC next summer to see the Vietnam Memorial. I think these events in our history are important and I try my best to answer the kids questions in ways they understand.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I commented on the other thread that my 6yo wanted to know what we were talking about when we were near the Pentagon about a week ago. My 12yo asked if we were near the corner that was hit by the airplane, and we told him that we were, and our 6yo wanted to know what airplane hit the building. I just told him that a plane hit the building several years ago without going into details. He left it at that and didn't ask for details.

When we were at the WTC sight about a year and a half ago I gave him a few details, but didn't tell him a lot. I was very emotional there, so I'm sure he knew it wasn't a happy place. At barely 5yo old he wouldn't have understood terrorists and he most certainly wouldn't have understood the death and destruction. I had a hard time absorbing it.

 

[lowie]

my (almost) 11 y.o. dd knows a lot about it, we've been to ground zero together and read about it. my 6 y.o. ds knows nothing yet.

 

[allison443]

My youngest was in kindergarten at the time...she did not know much about it then, but since we live close to NYC it is still a common topic. Families in our school lost parents that day. We often see streets renamed in memory of those who died. (firefighters, etc.) Bumper stickers about 9/11 are still common. I think that due to our proximity to NYC, I have had to discuss it with her more.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My DS5 was only 13 months old at the time, so fortunately he doesn't remember anything about it. I do tend to shield him and his younger brother from things I think will be frightening to them, but if he's asking questions, I answer them to the best of my ability, and hopefully in an age-appropriate fashion.