Massachusetts is among dozens of states that don’t require 9/11 to be taught in schools, leaving students without knowledge about “perhaps the most transformative day in the country’s history.”
That’s according to Pat Bavis, the chairman of the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund’s education committee, which is leading the push to get 9/11 lessons into all schools across the Bay State.
The gap, Bavis says, comes down to “simply a matter of generations,” as he points to how today’s high school students and many teachers weren’t alive on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida extremists hijacked four commercial jets, crashing them into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Bavis’ brother, Mark Bavis, an NHL scout, was a passenger on one of those hijacked planes, United Airlines Flight 175 out of Boston’s Logan Airport that day. It hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the terrorist attacks; 206 victims had ties to Massachusetts.
“Today, I challenge every history teacher in Massachusetts, and actually in America, to take the time,” Bavis said at an annual commemoration at the State House on Friday. “Remember our loved ones and remember what happened that day.”
“Remember how the country came together,” he added. “We united 25 years ago as a country … And honestly, I can’t remember if this country has been united like it was 25 years ago. We have the resources.”
Only a “handful” of Bay State schools include 9/11 in their curriculum, Bavis said. Massachusetts is one of some 29 states in the country that “dabble in talking about” the events of that day and how they have shaped today’s society, largely leaving the decision up to local districts.
Just 14 states explicitly mandate 9/11 be taught in school, Bavis added, while the remaining seven offer no state-level guidance.
The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, however, is helping shift the tide.
The nonprofit corporation has partnered with GBH on interactive, online videos and other visual materials on the events of 9/11, including the “critical but often overlooked role of Massachusetts as well as the immediate and lasting impacts of the attacks,” Bavis said.
A GBH video screened during Friday’s commemoration featured students detailing their disconnect from the attacks.
“I heard about 9/11, but I didn’t understand what happened or why,” said Austin, a student at Hingham High School.
Abby, a student at Waltham High School, added: “Since I wasn’t born yet, I had no idea how 9/11 has affected my life.”
The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund-GBH initiative is split into three sections: what happened on that exact day; how the world changed, including the “immediate disruptions” to the U.S. economy; and how that day is commemorated with memorials and remembrances.
Greg Rowe, a teacher at Rockland High School, describes the initiative as a game-changer.
“Often today you can find so many resources online,” Rowe said in a video, “but it’s hard to judge whether they’re credible or not. But this is a perfect example of how you can get a credible source that tells not only the story of the national event that it was, but of the international events and how local it was, as well.”
Last year, Gov. Maura Healey marked the 24th anniversary of the attacks by directing state education officials to ensure that 9/11 history was “fully incorporated” into school curriculum frameworks across the state.
“I ask that every high school in Massachusetts adopt the 9/11 curriculum,” the governor told reporters on Friday. “We need to teach our kids about 9/11.”
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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