Today was day #1 of teaching my favorite novel, The Great Gatsby, to my third period English class. I’d been looking forward to that moment all weekend because I was interested to hear how that particular class defined success.
“Alright, everybody,” I uncapped the Expo marker and faced the board expectantly. “What do you guys think of the American Dream?”
Silence. But that isn’t all that uncommon.
Usually the kids just don’t want to be the first to answer. I’ve learned that if I call on them individually, they’re more likely to give me a long, detailed explanation, so I tried that. I called on a few kids and re-asked them what they thought of the American Dream.
I got nothing back from them, and it literally made me want to cry (I didn’t). It wasn’t that they were afraid of answering; it was that they had never heard that term before.
Sometime in the middle of last week, I realized what the age difference between us was: 10 years. The overwhelming majority of them were born in 2000—just rosy-cheeked infants or toddlers on September 11, 2001. Last Friday, I had them read an article about that significant day and the mood in my classroom was not the usual somber sentiment of remembrance that it has been for the last 15 years. They read the article, but they didn’t understand the gravity of those events. But how could they?
I remember crying my eyes out while I watched the ash settle over New York City when the planes hit. I had no idea what it meant then, but I knew that it would forever alter life as I’d come to know it. Even at 11, I was aware.
I’m on the “wrong side” of my twenties, but I don’t consider myself old. With that being said, I feel that I’ve lived a handful of lifetimes. Technology boomed in my teenage years. National and international events affected my future.
I remember when travel didn’t mean standing in a full-body scanner or having to take my shoes off in the airport security line.
I remember when a cell phone in a classroom was a sign of a wealthy family or a student athlete.
I remember when Hussein and bin Laden were caught and executed.
I remember seeing the national response to the national response of Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
I was old enough to understand the impact of Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook when they happened.
To my students, these events are all things they’ve only seen in history books or heard about (if they’re even aware of them at all, to be honest). They haven’t made the empathetic effort required in order to really get the world around them. This is what they don’t understand. Not concepts or terms or analyzing literature, but empathy and deep understanding.
How can I teach these kids about the crumbling image of the American Dream when they simply do not understand what that means?
Pretty Words and Such 
Indeed…
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