My View: The Wrong Way to Teach 9/11

"Teach Your Children Well."

We hope that our educators always have that in mind when they teach our children.

But educators in the Easton Area School District failed on how some children were taught about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America.

Yes, everyone in our country needs to know -- and never forget -- the brutal attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, destroyed the World Trade Center towers in New York City and brought our country to its knees.

Sept. 11 will be a day on which we should mourn the loss of lives and always remember what our nation went through on that tragic day, which shook America to its core.

But do children who are 9 and 10 years old need to watch the horrific highlights of the attack: the smoldering towers and the crashing of airplanes into them?

That's just what some children watched on Tuesday.

And that was a major mistake. By showing those images to children, like it was done to fourth-graders in Shawnee Elementary School, for example, was inexcusable.

And it was inappropriate.

There's no need for children to see that suffering at such a young age.

And not only did they have to watch it; the students also then had to write down what they saw and try to explain what it meant.

I saw what my son, a fourth-grader at the school, brought home. We were not pleased, even though he handled it well. We have explained to him about the Sept. 11 attacks.

But other children did not handle the images so well. Some had nightmares about it.

Parents are upset about what happened. But they are afraid to complain.

Sure, honoring heroes -- like firefighters and police and soldiers -- who helped rescue people and save lives is the right thing to do. Taking a Moment of Silence, like what took place in other grades, to remember those who died is the right thing to do.

Showing the footage to a bunch of youngsters without parental consent is beyond comprehension.

So on behalf of the children and the parents, the Easton Area School District and the leaders of Shawnee Elementary School and others who aired the same footage owe everyone an apology.

And they also owe us a promise: that they will teach our children well. And that they will never make a mistake like this again.