Making History

The other day in my homeroom, we were talking about left-handed people. Four of the ten students in there are lefties, which is a way higher percentage than in the general population. I had seen an article in The New York Times about southpaw presidents, and I mentioned it to them. "Presidents Obama, Clinton, and Ford are all left-handed," I said.

"Who's President Ford?" somebody asked.

I was only too willing to jog their memories. "Y'know, he became president after Nixon resigned because of Watergate?"

"What's Watergate?"

That question came as a bit of a surprise, and I could see that the five minutes we had left was not going to be enough time to explain, so I told them we could talk about it another time, if they were interested. I supposed 1974 was a long time ago, especially if you're eleven or twelve.

In English class a little while later, the students were working on their fiction pieces, and one girl raised her hand. "What year were the twin towers destroyed?" she asked. Now, that questioned stunned me, because in 2001 I was standing in the same room that we were in right then when the Pentagon was attacked less than three miles away.

Of course, these kids were toddlers then, why would they remember? At the time, it seemed like those wounds would never heal, and maybe they won't, but there's a whole new set of people who weren't old enough to be scarred on that day. To them, it's history.

I know, I know. "Time marches on," but it's still a little surprising when I realize that the parade is passing me.

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the 2011 SOLSC challenge.)