Finally tonight, the voices of young Americans who were born after September the 11th.Our Student Reporting Labs network of high school journalism programs across the country gathered the reflections of teenagers to explore the legacy of 9/11 on their generation.I probably first learned about 9/11 in elementary school really early on. And, of course, as a little kid, you don't really understand.Being one of the first generations born after 9/11 feels really confusing. Like, I have never been around before this constant fear of terrorism.After hearing what happened, I was terrified of tall buildings. I was terrified of elevators. I was terrified of planes.It's very heavy on our generation, because so many older generations expect us to know everything, while we're still trying to learn and process.These attacks have affected my family directly. They are excited to come to this country. They have heard really great things about it.And then, as they're excited to start their new life, it like snapped them back to reality that not every place is super safe to live in.My dad considered changing my last name from Ahmed to something more white-passing.My mom was afraid to put on the hijab for multiple years after that, because she was afraid of being discriminated against or hate crimes.I have always inherited this idea that everyone in the Middle East is a terrorist or something, which just isn't true.I also feel like it brought America together, and patriotism was at an all-time high.
