Rick Rojas, Larry Gordon and Christopher Goffard
"Osama bin Laden's death removes a cloud that enveloped a generation"
Los Angeles Times
May 4, 2011
Summary: For the generation known as the millennials, young adults born after 1980, the 9/11 attacks and the wars that came out of them created a climate of foreboding that shaped their youth. The decadelong war on terror and the fears it prompted touched these young people, their families and others in concrete ways that the nuclear threat of the Cold War never did for an older generation. Luke Watkins was a sixth-grader when his mother called him to a television screen where smoke was pouring from the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Acknowledging the strangeness of the analogy, he compared Bin Laden's death to the upcoming last installment of the long-running Harry Potter movies: "It marks the end of our childhood," he said. Outside the White House, the crowd chanted "USA" and, at times, in a phrase reflective of immediate concerns, "Cancel finals."
Intended audience: All readers
Key points: 1. For his generation, known as the millennials, terrorism and the American response to it created a climate of foreboding that shaped their youth. For many, the death of Bin Laden marks a defining moment as they enter adulthood.
2. "They grew up with this constant pressure that something more was going to happen," said Brian Van Brunt, director of counseling at Western Kentucky University, where students celebrated after the news of Bin Laden's death.
Relevance: It is exciting to hear that Osama Bin Laden was dead. But I also heard that he had many substitutes. Hope he was dead for real. I still have a question, will terrorism be stopped even if Bin Laden was dead?
I have been a bit grieved over the huge celebrations of this mans death. I appreciate and am extremely grateful for our military and their dedication to our protection and safety but am not sure about the celebratory response of cheering and such. It is not as if evil was eradicated with Bin Laden's death.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I am not sure what message that sends. How do we justify celebrating the death of one person over that of another? It feels like assigning value to one life over another.
I don't know - what do the rest of you think? How would you deal with this in your classrooms?
Well, even though this quote that went pretty viral on the internet following bin Laden's death was not from MLK as it was originally attributed, I think it sums up my feelings on the entire situation:
ReplyDelete"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."
I agree with you that the celebrations are a bit troubling. I feel that the world will be a better place without him, but I struggle with the idea of celebrating his death. I am thankful to those people who have given their lives in service to protecting our country, to those who continue to serve, and to their families who sacrifice time with their loved ones for the rest of us.
Even though this quote is not actually from MLK, for me, it does not make it any less poignant or applicable to this situation.