Article issued October 04, 2001

September 11, 2001
Standing Together to Heal Our Children

Crisis is defined by Webster's Dictionary as:

1. an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person's life
2. an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome a financial crisis
3. a situation that has reached a critical phase the environmental crisis

The events of September 11 certainly apply to these definitions.

The United States has suffered a tragic loss of thousands of lives. While the adults of the nation sort out the events of what has happened, our children watch and wonder. Could this happen to me? Am I safe? What is terrorism? What can I do to help?

While there may be no easy answers to the questions children have, it is vital that parents keep dialog open with their children.

Here are some tips to help you and your child communicate through these times:¹

1. Keep it Simple - Allow your children to ask questions but keep your answers simple. Over analyzing the situation with children will create more confusion.
2. Reassure Your Children That They are Safe - In times of crisis all children want to know that they are safe. No one advocates lying, but a safe haven is vital to a child's sense of well being.
3. Point Out That This Was One Event - It may sound silly to say, but experts agree that children often "globalize" the things they see. Many children think that if it is happening in one place, it is happening everywhere.
4. Turn Off the TV - Keeping up on current events is important, but the constant barrage of information and images can be overwhelming to a child. Choose a time when you child is asleep or out of the house to catch-up on daily news.
5. Stay Calm - Children will look to their parents and family for clues about how to react to any situation. If you are calm, keeping their fears in check will be an easier task.
6. Lead by Example - Life goes on. In the face of crisis, that is often difficult to keep sight of. However, as the adults in a child's life move forward with the task of everyday life, they will be comforted and reassured that things are okay. Show your child that it is okay to "get back to normal".

The above tips are guidelines. Each family should think about how much information they want to give their children. Keep in mind that children who are older will hear things from other sources-- be ready to answer questions.

The positive aspects of crisis are the lessons learned. There is power and comfort in knowledge. The lesson plans below were written with that premise in mind.

Learn More!
General Resources for Learning About Crisis

• Disaster Mental Health: Dealing with the Aftereffects of Terrorism
  The National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has posted a series of informational articles relating to the effects of terrorism. A special article on Terrorism and Children is extremely well written.
• Children & Disasters
  The American Red Cross has put together a page of helpful information about children's reaction to a disaster.
• Helping Children Cope With Disaster
  This PDF profiles the reactions of children by age to disaster and how to help them cope with it.
• Psychosocial Issues For Children And Families In Disasters:
  This article was published for the American Academy of Pediatrics. The information contained in the article is vital to anyone working with children in the aftermath of a disaster. Of special relevance is the section Reactions of Children and Adolescents to a Disaster
• Helping Children Cope With Disaster
• Helping Adolescents Cope With Disaster
  The Critical Incident Stress website helps parents to help their children deal with the aftermath of disaster.

For Kids:

• About Disasters by J.Berry
• Disasters by D. Sobol pocket books
• Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou, Stewart Tabori & Chang; ISBN: 1556702884
• One April Morning by Nancy Lamb, Lothrop Lee & Shepard; ISBN: 068814666X
• Some Things Are Scary by Florence Parry Heide, Candlewick Press; ISBN: 0763612227
• Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco Picture Yearling; ISBN: 0440409365
• My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss Knopf; ISBN: 0679875972

• Parenting Through Crisis Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief and Change by Barbara Coloroso, Harper Resource; ISBN: 0060958146

LESSON 1:
A Hero to Me

Concepts:
You will learn about what makes someone a hero.

Lesson:
After the collapse of the World Trade Towers, many heroes emerged. Firemen and policemen trying to rescue those inside never made it out of the towers. Hundreds of people were involved in a rescue effort afterwards.

Have children write a letter to someone (public figure or friend or family) and express what makes them a hero. The person can be living or someone from the past.

Be sure the letter includes the following:

1. An introduction about the child.
2. A reason for the selection as a hero supported by three facts.
3. One thing the child will do for their hero.

• Draw a picture (grades k-3)
• Compose a poem or tribute (grades 3 - 12)
• Offer to volunteer community service time (grades 7 - 12)

When you have finished, you can play the Hero Game

Older children can log onto the My Hero web site and create a web site to honor their hero!

LESSON 2:
Dear Mr. President …

Concepts:
You will learn about how to write a persuasive essay.

Lesson:
It is important to express how you feel to the leaders of the country at all times, but especially during a crisis.

Grades 3 - 5
Write a letter to the President and tell him about what you think about what happened on September 11, 2001. Be sure your letter begins with a greeting, and ends with your name and age. Watch punctuation and capitalizations!

Grades 6 - 12
Think about the important issues and select one that you would like the President to act on. Think about your own feelings and reflections on what has happened. Remember that a persuasive essay doesn't have to change someone's mind. The essay should persuade those that read it that you have valid, sound points.

Compose an essay using the techniques from Writing a Persuasive Essay

Additional Resources

• Writing Argumentative Essay
• INL Persuasive Essay Description
• Essentials of Effective Persuasive Essays
• Persuasive/Argument Essay
  What is a persuasive/argument essay?

LESSON 3:
Think Global, Act Local

Concepts:
You will learn about how to make a difference in times of crisis.

Lesson:

History has taught us that what we do on a local level makes a difference to the rest of the world. Community service is one way everyone can make a difference, no matter how far away from a crisis you are. Children can make a large impact on important issues that face local communities and the world.

2001 has been designated by the United Nations as International Year of the Volunteer.

Look at the following sites to see how kids have helped their community and world.

• Prudetntial 2001 Community Service Honorees

Select a community service you would like to participate in or create your own (see below for ideas). Plan on a calendar how much of your week you will devote to your service.

Keep your pledge! When the crisis passes, we all may think it is no longer important to continue being involved-- but it is!

Note: If you are looking for an activity to participate in to help the people of the September 11, 2001 disaster, try one of these:

• American Liberty Partnership: How Kids Can Help
• Green Ribbon Campaign (Teens)
• Network for Good

• Do Something
• Want to Volunteer? Are you Under 18? (From Service Leaders.org)
• America's Promise
• The Center For Community Service Learning
• The Big Help: Getting Started Kit
• 4-H Community Service Ideas

LESSON 4:
Crisis in Literature

Concepts:
You will learn about ways that crisis has been overcome through fictional stories.

Lesson:
Lesson: Is crisis always "bad"? In fiction, an author will use crisis in many different ways to help the hero / heroine or the story to progress. Looking at the ways authors have handled crisis through stories will allow you to see how crisis can make you stronger.

Select and read a story listed below. Write three paragraphs about how crisis affected the characters and made them stronger.

Suggested Story List:

For Children 5 - 7

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
  Points to ponder: What is the boy's crisis? How is the boy's crisis handled by the tree? In the end how is the tree's crisis handled by the boy?
• The Little Ant by David Novak, Riverbank Press ISBN 0-87406-689-1
  Points to ponder: What is the crisis in this story? How many crises are there? Who learns the most valuable lesson from the crises?
• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, Harcourt Brace & Company ISBN 0-15-280217-7
  Points to ponder: How does Stelleluna learn from the crisis she experienced? Do Flip, Flitter and Pip have a crisis? Do they learn something from Stellaluna's crisis?
• Peter and The Wolf by Sergey Prokofiev, NBM Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 1561632007
  Points to ponder: What is the main crisis of the story? Who is made stronger by the crisis? How does Peter use teamwork to overcome the crisis?

• A River Ran Wild by Cherry, Lynne. Harcourt, 1992 ISBN 0 152 00542 0
  Think about: This book has an unconventional crisis. Is the crisis any less real? Does the river ever overcome the crisis? How?

• Sami and the Time of the Troubles by Heide, Florence Parry, Illustrated by Ted Lewin. Clarion, 1992 ISBN 0 395 55964 2
  Think about: How does Sammy deal with the crisis of war? Do you think the crisis makes him stronger? Does Sammy react the way you would to this crisis?
• Redwall by Brian Jacques. Avon, 1986 ISBN 0-380-70827-2
  Think about: What does crisis do to the characters? How do the mice overcome crisis? What do you think is the best approach to dealing with one of thier crisis?
• The Wanderer by by Sharon Creech, Joanna Cotler Books, HarperCollins
  Think about: What type of crisis does Sophie encounter? Does the crisis change Sophie? How?

• Angel on the Square Gloria Whelan, HarperCollins Children's Books ISBN: 0060290307
  Think about: Is Katya in crisis? Descibe what kinds of crisis she is facing. Can she control the crisis? What can she do?
• The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley, Scholastic, Inc. ISBN: 0439263263
  Think about: In the face of crisis, what does Arthur do? How is his response to crisis different from the other characters in the book?

• Bestselling Children's Books
• Caldecott Medal Winners and Honor Books, 1938-2001

LESSON 5:
What is Terrorism?

Concepts:
You will learn about what terrorism is and how it is affecting us today.

Lesson:
Use the following resources to explore the meaning of terrorism and how it is changing our world today. After the resource listing, you will find a series of questions to present to your 9-12 graders. They can use these questions as a guide to write answers that will help them understand their feelings and understand what is happening in the world right now. Work closely with them on this project.

• Attack On America - Tuesday 11 September 2001
  From Michael Sauers at the Bibliographic Center for Research, a large continuously updated collection of news sources, national and international, graphics, multimedia, survivor resources and more.
• Hot Topics
  Evergreen State College has assembled this site with a particularly thorough collection of links to public agencies. The site might not remain at this exact address as their Hot Topics are constantly changing.
• Attack on America in Context - Free Resources from LexisNexis
  Normally fee-based legal information service, LexisNexis, is offering "relevant content from its deep archive of news and legal, legislative and business information to assist people in their jobs and lives with the ongoing after-effects of the tragic terrorist events of Sept. 11." Topics include News and Background Information, Terrorism Legislation, The Investigation, Reaction to Events, and more.
• Information Please
  On-Line Dictionary, Internet Encyclopedia, Atlas, & Almanac Reference is highlighting information on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, Terrorism, and Worst US Disasters.
• Google News Resources
  "Links to news sites and support resources related to the terrorist attacks on the US."

National PTA: Helping Children Cope with Tragedy

Weblogs and Forums

ResearchBuzz has an awesome collection of weblogs and forums. Here are some of the best.

• craigslist forums
  A powerful comment from an Afghani native living in the US for 35 years reminding us not to blame or retaliate against the Afghani people.

  "The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think 'the people of Afghanistan' think 'the Jews in the concentration camps.' It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators."

• Shattered 9/11/2001
  A very powerful and moving photo essay from time.com

• safe.millennium.berkeley.edu
  "This site is a service for everyone who may have been near the terrorist attacks on September 11 and their family members and friends."

• frontline: hunting bin laden
  Strong investigative reporting from PBS including numerous interviews and an interesting section on the trail of evidence.
• Who is Osama Bin Laden?
  This current report from the BBC "covers this controversial figure's history from his early connections with the CIA to his current command structure and speculations about his stock market manipulations." Contains video footage and external links.

• Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
  "RAWA is a political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan."
• Who are the Taleban?
  Written in December 2000 this BBC report recounts the origins of the Taleban in Afghanistan.
• CIA -- The World Factbook 2000 -- Afghanistan
  Definitive reference for basic public information.
• Afghan Network
  A Canadian site with information about Afghan geography, culture, photographs and more.

Use the World Wide Web to answer the following questions. In each case, list the url of the page that had material for your answer.
1. September 11, 2001
• What were the tragic events that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001?
• Describe as concisely and precisely as possible.
• Approximately how many people were killed?
2. World Trade Center:
• When was it built and at what cost?
• Where is it located and how big is it?
• Find a story that recounted an act of heroism at the World Trade Center.
• List specific names and actions that were taken.
• How much damage was caused?
• When was it previously attacked and by whom?
3. Pentagon:
• When was it built and how big is it?
• What is the estimated damage to it?
• How many people were killed?
4. Osama bin Laden:
• Who is he?
• When and where was he born?
• Where does he live?
• What does he want?
5. Afghanistan:
• Where is it located?
• What is the name, longitude and latitude of its capital city?
• What countries border it?
• What or who is the Taliban?
• Who is Ahmad Masoud? Burhanuddin Rabbani?
• Mohammad Omar? Where are they now?
6. Conclusion:
• What do you think should be done to remedy the situation?
• Write as if you were President of the US and as an individual.
  (No url necessary for this question.)

Article by Jeunesse Francis and Nancy Kleban, HLN Curriculum Development
Article © Homeschool Learning Network, All Rights Reserved.