Fourteen years ago a tragedy hit our country as two planes flew into the twin towers. But the ripples that it made went far beyond New York City.

  As a senior, I am one of the oldest students on campus, and I have faint memories of 9/11. I think us, the younger generations are the ones who need to be taught what happened.

 So that we are able to learn and know the truth about our history.

  “Always remember” is the a major slogan for the event, but are we actually honoring that? On 9/11 we come to school and the only interaction we have with the date is when we write it in the upper right hand corners of our papers below our names.

  It is a day that for me personally is very difficult to go about normally. I come from a military family and my dad was in the navy for 26 years, and my brother is currently an officer.

  Not that they were involved but I still feel the pain in my heart for those families and I think it would only grow if I knew they were taken too soon and it didn’t have a lasting effect.

  I think that the least we could do is take a moment to understand what happened and why they can’t be here with us now.

  But not one teacher addressed it in any of my classes.

  In a way we would be lucky to learn about that day from the people who are able to remember the exact place they were standing when it happened.

  The realization that more than 2,000 lives were lost deeply touches me, but it’s important to commemorate the many who survived.

  When it does get talked about, we don’t have to focus on all the tragedy; there are many incredible stories.

  The news and media nowadays tends to focus on the negativity for their ratings but as the people who make the ratings, we can take a stand remember the good.

   There are amazing stories from the survivors that can be uplifting and give hope.

  I have heard multiple stories of people who were supposed to be on the planes that crashed but something happened that stopped them from going to work that day.

  It shows that they had another day to live, and now they are able to appreciate it.

  But the problem with not talking about it is that it diminishes the impact that 9/11 had on America. The nation united together and we created new philosophies of security.

  Also, it is part of the history of America. Our children will learn about this event, so why can’t we even mention it without people looking at you like you said a bad word?

  It is a tragedy and it is hard to talk about, but we need to honor those who not only were citizens, but firefighters and also those who went and fought to keep our country safe.

  We are losing the ability to tell stories that can pass through generations.

  People now are more focused on what directly affects them. Reaching out is becoming a rare talent for people.

 If the impact of tragedy can spread across the country, the hand of a person can extend to hold another in pain.