Who They Turned To
Posted by anastasia on 09-11-2006I'm sure I've blogged about this at some point before (when you've been blogging regularly for a couple of years, you tend to repeat stories). When I was 19, I'll never forget the beginning of the first Gulf War. The way I remember is is through how my mom reacted. She'll probably kill me for blogging this (again), but she ate an entire chocolate cake. She was so emotionally panicked at the thought of being at war, that her response was to binge. It definitely made me feel like what was happening was serious. According to research on how teens or Gen Y responded to the events of 9/11, it appears that how they dealt with the trauma was also linked to how they saw their parents react and cope.
According to this article (which originally appeared in the New York Times but was reprinted in the Orange County Register):
"Seven months after the attacks, teens and young adults were more likely to have post-traumatic stress symptoms if their parents were distressed or if they viewed their parents as unavailable to talk, or if talks with their parents about the attacks were not helpful."
The Poughkeepsie Journal convened a teen panel to discuss 9/11 and found a similar connection:
"The teens' memories of the day are powerful and deeply rooted in how adults around them reacted…
Beacon resident Marissa Papula, 15, said she didn't think the attacks were a 'big deal' until she spent the next day sitting beside her mother in church.
'She just sat there and cried and prayed the whole time,' Papula said. 'That's when I figured that my mom was taking it so seriously, it had to be a big deal.'"
Both articles cover a range of responses and feelings about the day and are worth reading today. It's still too early to really measure the full impact the events have had on this generation. Lauren Patrizi, 21, said this about 9/11 in the Times piece:
"As we watched the planes hit the towers, all Americans' lives were changed," she said. "The only difference for our generation is that ours will have to make the largest sacrifices, whether it be in our physical military presence or quite honestly paying off the financial debt many considered to have been caused by the events following 9/11."
P.S. I feel guilty, but I have no desire to watch any of the 9/11 movies and documentaries that have been coming out or even the extensive news coverage of the event. I can remember it vividly and don't really want to go through all of the feelings I had then, now. Does anyone else feel this way? I'd rather spend the day doing something to make the world a better place than just relive the past..(of course I'm just going to work, but you know what I mean)
September 11th, 2006 at 10:10 am
You know, I wrote a long post this morning about the same thing, just with a little more angst. I honestly feel that the media is what scared the world, not the act itself. Every anniversary of 9/11, they prompt it with about a month of "the upcoming anniversary of 9/11" clips on the news. Aside from that, its shoved in our faces nearly every day anyways. So now, I wake up to find the Today show is dedicating their entire day to 9/11 with interviews that tell us "we're still not safe, be scared." Journalists are nothing more than fear marketers these days. "Today, you might die, watch and we'll tell you how." My other feeling about this is that yes, I'm sorry it happened, but what other events do we hold onto this hard? I bet by next year the Hurricane Katrina coverage will be held far less than this year and by year five, you think we'll hear about it? Guess what? Katrina was messed up and it was a HUGE mess up by our government, but lets not focus on that and all of those people who have been screwed over by a natural disaster. We don't have an enemy to focus on, its got no character. We're not still hunting for Hurricane Katrina. No no, today is a day we need to remember there's terrorism in the world even though we're told by our loving president that the best way to defeat terrorism is by living our lives… is that why we keep rehashing this stuff?
September 11th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Bush doesn't want us to just go about our lives.
Bush wants us to give him more power.
He wants the power to setup kangaroo courts in Cuba, in which he chooses the judge, jury, and executioner. Goodbye: trial by a jury of your peers. Goodbye: separation of powers.
He wants Congress to make it impossible for someone falsely imprisoned and tortured by the US in the name of fighting terrorism to sue.
September 11th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Anastasia,
I agree with you about watching 9.11 movies and specials. I don't want to rehash it all again and live those emotions over and over. I lived through it once and have enough memories. My husband is the opposite. He finds it therapeutic to watch the specials. So I was glad to find your comments about feeling the same way I do!
BTW, thanks for this blog. It is so helpful in my work as an editor of the teen magazine, ENCOUNTER (by Standard Publishing, http://www.standardpub.com). I also help with my company's weekly online article that provides Sunday school material for teachers of teens using a current event. I find your YPulse Essentials helpful in my job.
September 11th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Zinelife - I agree with your take on how the media and politicians have stoked fear for political gain more than given hope. Kelly, I'm so glad Ypulse has been helpful to your work! Also — I'm sure gender might have something to do with who watches the coverage and who doesn't :)
September 12th, 2006 at 7:26 am
Zinelife said:
*I honestly feel that the media is what scared the world, not the act itself.*
I agree with you about the Hurricane Katrina survivors getting shafted, coverage-wise, but I have to disagree with you about this statement. I live north of New York City and once I heard the Pentagon was hit, I figured we were at war and didn't know what was coming next. I literally called my dad and asked if I should pack up the husband & cats and drive somewhere far away.
Maybe it's different for people in other parts of the country who don't live near a target, but the fear that happened that day was real and visceral and still haunts some of us . . . every time I step onto a train with minimal security to go to a ballgame with friends, I wonder if I will make it home. And I don't even live in the City — I can't imagine how much worse it must be for those people.