COPING WITH TRAGEDY: How are we supposed to react?
Students in John Brierley’s AP Government class at Venice High School offer their thoughts.
Students from the Advanced Placement Geography class of John Brierley at Venice High School had the following comments. Mr. Brierley is a 34-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District who has also taught at Orville Wright Middle School and Westchester High School.
"After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, most people have become very willing to fight for their country. I have heard teenagers say they are not scared to die for their country. But is it worth it to go and fight when there is not much evidence that these terrorist attacks are connected with Osama bin Laden and the Al-Quaeda network? How do we know for sure that those guys are responsible?
Going to war is a scary thing and none of us should be happy about it. Dying for our county might sound amazing—you’d be a hero!—but what would we give up if we fought? What would happen to our families if we died? War only brings sadness even though it might also ensure our safety. There must be another way except war."
—Olga Goldina, 16
"The other day I was listening to the radio and I heard a man complaining, ‘I work with many Arab people, and they are just so hard to work with. They are so different from us. You can’t trust them.’ Being Islamic and Middle Eastern, this appalled me. People have made comments to me such as, ‘Is your father a terrorist?’ ‘Are you going to bomb me too?’ America cannot and should not tolerate such acts."
—Mona Kazemi, 15
"There is no correct way to react to a horrible disaster. Some people cope with it by putting a little spin on the incident and making jokes. Others choose to use concentrated thought or prayer. My family and I played a game of Monopoly to escape the recent tragedies. We must try to return our lives to normal, or the terrorists have already won."
—Alex Hornof, 14
"As for the attacks on Afghanistan, the protests in Pakistan, and the statements of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, I don’t know what to say about them. Am I supposed to be happy? Am I supposed to feel sorry for the people who did this? Am I supposed to have an attitude that says kill them all, they deserve it? Or am I supposed to say no, let them go?
I don’t know who to focus my anger on anymore, Osama bin Laden or President Bush. Both of them have been killing innocent people. I’m just waiting for what’s going to happen next. All I know for sure is that it’s wrong to kill people, it’s good to come to the aid of others, criminals should be brought to justice and violence is not the answer. Heroism and patriotism comes through helping people and being kind, not killing even more and terrorizing each other."
—Zeenat Bhamani, 14
"On September 11, I spent the day hearing about the event from my classmates. The school district told teachers not to show us what was happening on TV. Most students thought this was stupid, but I thought it was a good idea. I was already very traumatized and feeling a little depressed just from hearing about the attacks. I still wanted to discuss it in class though. I was shocked when a few of my teachers didn’t mention or acknowledge what had happened. They just taught class like nothing was wrong.
When I got home, I felt like there was a war going on inside my home between my father and the television. For the first time, I saw the videotape of the American Airlines plane crashing into the second tower. I didn’t know what to do. I’m only 14. What could I do? Should I do my homework? Was I going to school the next day? I just sat and watched TV, and worried about my family in New York. Then I walked around the house. I tried to avoid thinking about it, I tried to play basketball, but I felt light-headed and sick. It was so serious.
My father was angry, but thought that this event was a wake-up call for the United States. Having many family members in Israel, and being conservative Jews, my family and I are very aware of terrorism in Israel and around the world. Why had America ignored Israel’s pleas for action on terrorism? We could have easily prevented this.
I think we need to put an end to it by focusing on all Islamic fundamentalists. I don’t want to sound racist against Muslims, because I’m not. These people are more like members of a cult than a religion. These extremists want to rid the world of people who are not Islamic, even though Islam in no way teaches, authorizes or supports their beliefs. They pose a serious threat to all America stands for. There is no negotiating with them, and they must be stopped."
—Ben Israeli, 14
1 Comment
I am Mona, the one who sumbitted a comment that was published in this article at age 15. I would just like to say that it is unfair and unjust that the product that I had submitted that was over one page long was shortened to a mere few sentences when Ben Israeli — a boy whom I attended school with who criticized me constantly for being muslim, had three paragraghs published claiming that muslims are more like a cult than a religion. Those who do not read up on the news or are not familiar with the islamic culture are easily swayed by such remarks. I hope that in future you will choose more wisely how much, and what you publish. Thanks!