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September 11: how can younger generations remember what they did not witness?
Twenty-five years on, a generation with no memory of 9/11 needs to learn why it still matters
There are moments in history when people remember exactly where they were. September 11, 2001, is one of them. But 25 years on, there is now an entire generation for whom the attacks on New York and Washington are history rather than memory.
It is that generation that SINCE 9/11 was created to reach.
The UK educational charity was founded by Peter Rosengard on the tenth anniversary of the attacks with the aim of ensuring the legacy of 9/11 could, through education, “build hope from tragedy”.
On September 11, 2001, 19 Islamist terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, flying two into New York’s World Trade Centre and another into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought back. Almost 3,000 people were killed, including citizens of more than 90 countries and 67 British victims. To this day, the largest number of British citizens were murdered in a terrorist attack.
“Whilst we all remember exactly where we were on 9/11, no child at school today was even born,” says Peter. “Many of their teachers were children themselves. It is vital we educate them about what happened.”
Working with UCL’s Institute of Education, SINCE 9/11 provides free school resources on the attacks and their aftermath, as well as workshops tackling extremism, conspiracy theories, racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia. The charity has also taken its work beyond the classroom. Its National Schools Competition asked more than 1,000 pupils to consider, ‘How did 9/11 change the world?’ with winners travelling to New York to meet first responders, family members and others affected by the attacks.
Its most visible legacy in Britain is at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: a 27 ft tall, 4 tonne public artwork created from steel recovered from the World Trade Centre. Commissioned by the charity from New York artist Miya Ando, it was unveiled in March 2015 by then-London mayor Boris Johnson and US Ambassador Matthew Barzun.
And it is here that SINCE 9/11 will gather on Friday, 11 September, for a 25th anniversary event, hosted by broadcaster Adam Boulton, to remember victims and consider what has been learnt in the quarter-century since.
For Peter Rosengard, the work feels more urgent.
“Some hoped 9/11 was so horrific it would wake up the world to the pointlessness and pain of terrorism. But international terrorism has increased. There is a greater need than ever to build understanding amongst young people that violence and terror never solve the world’s problems.”
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