teaching kids about september 11th and osama bin laden
September 11th. My son was born on September 11th, not THE September 11th, but 9/11 is his birthday. I see the reaction of adults whenever he says the date of his birthday. It is usually a simple “oh.” My boys know very little about the details of September 11th, just a few of the basics: there were some bad guys that flew airplanes into buildings. There were also some heroes, heroes in the air and on the ground. Heroes like Todd Beamer (from my graduating class at Wheaton College), and heroes like the police officers and firefighters of New York City.
The acts of terror on 9/11 were acts of pure evil. The one responsible for those acts is now gone. The attacks on September 11th resulted in the loss of many innocent lives. The recent news of Osama bin Laden’s demise resulted in the loss of only one, the perpetrator of those evil plans.
I don’t want my children to think that we are rejoicing because someone was killed (actually, as they hear snippets of the news, we’re focusing on the “they got him” aspect). Yet I do want them to rejoice when good prevails over evil. Kids are very black and white. Today I can say the good guys won.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I will be planning our family night this week.