New millenium teens have had many shocking and defining moments in their collective coming of age. Oklahoma, Columbine and Santana top the list, and now there is also 9/11. One year later, how should you be feeling? What is normal? Since there are no right or normal reactions, even one year later, Teen Advice decided to get some help from the real experts, other teens. Nine teens in a Vancouver youth group have agreed to share their thoughts and feelings one year after the attacks with the goal of helping you better understand your own mixed and varied reactions. It is a small group on the other side of the world from New York and Washington, but their thoughts and feelings are typical of those being expressed by teens across the continent.
In relation to New York, Vancouver, B.C. is on the other side of the continent in another country. It is located on the West Coast of Canada some 3000 miles from Ground Zero. On September 11, 2001 Vancouver International Airport hosted 34 diverted aircraft and almost 6000 displaced travellers. Like many Canadian cities on that day, Vancouver rallied to action playing host to stranded peoples from all over the world. While a world away from New York City and Washington D.C., Vancouver felt a ripple and Vancouverites, like the rest of the world, were changed forever.
On September 13, 2001 this group of nine street kids had their first post-9/11 meeting. It was a somber affair marked by the shadow of some horrific world events. As a moderator of this group and of a Teen Advice forum based in the United States I was afforded an unique perspective on how these events impacted North American teens. I shared with the group some of the thoughts expressed by the Teen Advice community and asked them about their own reactions. These are tough kids who have had difficult lives. Many of them stopped being kids before they were really teens, facing down adult challenges with the eyes of a child. On that September 13th meeting many of them cried, something they had rarely done over their personal tragedies.
The enormity of the 9/11 events made these disenfranchised kids feel connected to mainstream culture as never before and their reactions that day reflected this. One year later their reactions still bring out strong emmotions. These may not be typical teens, but these are typical reactions. 9/11 broke our Westernized hearts but it brought our spirit toghether in new and inspiring ways. We were hit with the worst of mankind and it brought out the best in many people. The consensus of these nine teens on this first anniversary of 9/11 is that we should remember the lost lives of September 11th by keeping a spirit of kindness alive. For more of their thoughts, read on...
