Trauma, unlike wealth, actually does trickle down. So even though kids don’t understsnd where it’s coming from, major traumatic events will affect them second-hand.
Being in the UK no one believed me when I was concerned at school after hearing about 9/11.
My grandad was in there, and it took us a whole day to get a hold of him to find out if he got out in time…
9 year old me hearing on the radio coming back from swimming after a trip at school that the Twin Towers got hit, I remember turning thinking I misheard it to ask my teacher left to me in the coach “My grandad works in there”.
Her eyes opened wide. I got collected early from school by my crying mother early. Then I understood and got worried. No one at my school helped calm me, thankfully I must have looked so clueless and confused anyway. I was an odd kid so no one probably cared or noticed.
Odd day. Don’t really need to explain much else.
So in answer to the comments on here saying kids don’t remember, of course they do! We didn’t just start consciousness and wake up at age 10 or whatever.
You’re definitely right, it can affect second-hand, even if the child didn’t directly understand.
I wouldn’t draw the conclusion that all kids remember it based on your experience. What you experienced was likely very traumatizing.
For anyone your age, even in the US, their main “trauma” was not being able to watch cartoons because the news was on every channel. Unless, of course, someone they were close to worked in or around the towers like in your case.
Trauma, unlike wealth, actually does trickle down. So even though kids don’t understsnd where it’s coming from, major traumatic events will affect them second-hand.
Being in the UK no one believed me when I was concerned at school after hearing about 9/11. My grandad was in there, and it took us a whole day to get a hold of him to find out if he got out in time… 9 year old me hearing on the radio coming back from swimming after a trip at school that the Twin Towers got hit, I remember turning thinking I misheard it to ask my teacher left to me in the coach “My grandad works in there”.
Her eyes opened wide. I got collected early from school by my crying mother early. Then I understood and got worried. No one at my school helped calm me, thankfully I must have looked so clueless and confused anyway. I was an odd kid so no one probably cared or noticed.
Odd day. Don’t really need to explain much else.
So in answer to the comments on here saying kids don’t remember, of course they do! We didn’t just start consciousness and wake up at age 10 or whatever.
You’re definitely right, it can affect second-hand, even if the child didn’t directly understand.
I wouldn’t draw the conclusion that all kids remember it based on your experience. What you experienced was likely very traumatizing.
For anyone your age, even in the US, their main “trauma” was not being able to watch cartoons because the news was on every channel. Unless, of course, someone they were close to worked in or around the towers like in your case.
That’s such a shitty take. Plenty of kids my age were freaked out by it eveb if we weren’t personally affected.
I was just basing it on the comments I’m seeing from people who were kids at the time. Clearly it depends on age.
This. I don’t remember 9/11 for what it is, but I remember being antagonized as a child for being in the country while not being a white person.