Ten Years After

There are certain moments in your life that will always remain frozen in time. One, for me, is standing in the staff room of Bannockburn Montessori School in Toronto on September 11, 2001 and watching live coverage of the twin towers in flames. At the time, I don’t think that any of us fully understood the impact that the horrendous events of that day would have upon our collective western psyches.

Fast forward ten years and we can look back upon a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ramped up security at airports and borders, no fly lists, rendition and detention without trial, and even a boom in the “smaller than 3 ounces” toiletry business! Our world changed and swept us up along with it.

We have hardened. We are a little more closed, a little more cautious, and a little more wary of the “other”. There is no question but that one of the casualties of the events of that day was our openness and tolerance of those whose lives and values are different from our own. So, that is what happened to us, but what about our children?

My two young boys and my six grandchildren were not yet born on that September morning. Consequently, this life changing moment for us, was simply the creation of a “new normal” for them. As parents and educators it is our responsibility to help them to shape and define that new reality and to arm them with the values and attitudes that will make them positive and productive members of our increasingly global society.

At my school in Bermuda we pride ourselves on being a learning community that is committed to instilling compassion and respect for others. It is our responsibility to wean our children away from the excesses of our own fears and to begin to rebuild a more hopeful future.

On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, I hope that we can try as a community to begin to take the first steps to build new understandings and unity of purpose out of the ashes of tragedy. Our children deserve our best efforts.