<p>My daughter was very upset with the way some of her Facebook friends reacted to the killing of Bin Laden. She was shocked that so many of these kids had no concept of how this will affect the world. She said kids were posting really shallow and stupid stuff like, no more security checks at airports and now gas prices will go back to a dollar. She said that she was proud that the USA had done what needed to be done, but she did not feel like celebrating. She is very worried about retaliation. I explained to her that for many people, the killing brings a sense of closure. But she feels like the worst is yet to come. At least Bin Laden was an intelligent, educated man. She fears the terriorts cells remaining, with no clear leadership, will be out of control. So, what are your kids saying about all this?</p>
<p>You have a very smart kid.</p>
<p>I (college student) posted a sign outside my dorm room saying God Bless America. Yes, I’m aware of the repercussions, but it’s still a joyful moment. We cannot be fearful of revenge attacks…fear is what terrorism is about.</p>
<p>As for your last comment…Bin Laden might have been (love using past tense now) “intelligent, educated” but he still was directly responsible for the death of thousands and needed to be taken out. I think our amazing troops, agents, etc. can handle what’s coming up. It’s a direct blow to their leadership, and while some may run around like chickens without a head, is it any different to constant bombings and IEDS in Afghanistan and Iraq?</p>
<p>My son texted me with the news last night but I haven’t talk to him about it.</p>
<p>Sounds like your daughter is a deep thinker. A lot of other people are concerned - I saw ‘al Qaeda retaliation’ pop up on google trends this morning. </p>
<p>I would reassure her that the US gov’t is aware of the risk of retaliation and is beefing up security (that’s what I heard on the news last night). But in the long run, the world is a safer place without him. Of course, people are celebrating, he caused the death of 3,000 Americans. The stock market will rally today, oil prices are dropping but that’s all temporary. Can’t see airport security ever going back in time. </p>
<p>[U.S</a>. Boosts Embassy Security, Watches for Bin Laden Retaliation - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Son was at a pancake breakfast, put on by the faculty and adminstrators at his college before finals, when the news broke. I’m sure it was a happy night.</p>
<p>But I do find it somewhat repulsive to watch people, here in the U.S., rallying in the streets over his death.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why that is repulsive. He caused a lot of death and fear, and now he is gone. Our troops took him out without any of them getting hurt. It is something to cheer about.</p>
<p>“Wait, I thought he was dead already.”</p>
<p>Mine was on the green with the other students at Delaware to celebrate. She understands better than most the possible ramifications. I work in Times Square and was missing for many hours in Manhattan on 9/11. But she also knows that it had to happen. I am very glad she is not in Manhattan right now.</p>
<p>I have been surprised with the strong reaction of the college students on TV, and with those that I know. It’s all over their facebook pages.</p>
<p>Maybe we have underestimated the effect that 9/11 had on our then-middle-school aged children. Bin Laden, I suppose, has been their bogeyman for the last ten years.</p>
<p>
Education and intelligence does not, unfortunately, equal sane. And although some equally insane person is waiting in the wings, Bin Laden dead is better than Bin Laden alive. The terrorists will try to kill us no matter what we do, so we might as well kill them back. And what better place to start than with this guy?</p>
<p>
I think this is actually a very strange comment. I’m glad she is thinking all of this through carefully, though, and as the days go on, I’m sure she will reach conclusions that are more insightful and informed.</p>
<p>I didn’t really react. It didn’t mean anything to me. I thought I would at least feel closure, but I don’t. I can’t remember for sure but I think I reacted more strongly to when Saddam was captured. If memory serves I was probably still an extremely young teen when focus seemed to shift toward Iraq and less on finding Bin Laden, at least in the eyes of the 13 year old I was at the time and what limited media exposure I had.</p>
<p>I was in 7th grade when 9/11 happened and I was scared at the time but for completely the wrong reasons. I thought enemy militants were going to break down our front door at any moment and insisted we take our dog with us to protect him when we went to pick up my sister from school. I was home sick that day, and the only idea of war I’d ever had was battle scenes in WWII movies so that was what I was envisioning heading to Detroit. What was really going on was too big for me to really understand at the time, I think. And it isn’t as though anyone stopped to explain it to me.</p>
<p>Not sure why I am apparently reacting differently than your kids. Most of my friends are reacting similarly. I am one of only a few that bothered to watch the address. The idea of retaliation did occur to me, but unless I get wind of an actual acknowledged threat I tend not to worry about that sort of thing. The underwear bomber scared me, and I remember hearing a story that there was some kind of a terror plot that had been discovered that involved a large american high school with three schools on campus, and I remember being freaked out about that as a senior at such a school-- probably a hoax but it seemed plausible to me at the time apparently since i remember being genuinely afraid. Otherwise, the possibility of a terrorist attack is just a fact of life. I don’t think about it unless I hear something is actually happening or happened. I am much more concerned on a day to day basis about school shootings, for whatever reason. The VT shooting hit me extremely hard as a HS student.</p>
<p>My daughter is the one who called me last night to tell me of Bin Ladens death. She said that at Johns Hopkins, the students were all pouring into the quads and some were driving to DC to join in the White House celebration. I think it is wonderful that these young adults feel the patriotic spirit even though they were very young on 9/11. As a high school teacher, I have taken all of my students to the computer lab to show them the college campus reaction! They must be proud of their generation!!</p>
<p>My kids, along with me and my husband, remain troubled by the continuing violence in the world. To me, such celebrations of death are disturbing. A vigil for all those that have died and will die due to acts of violence are more appropriate.</p>
<p>Well, human beings are a bundle of different, irrational, sometimes-contradictory emotions. My D lives in NYC, was in a school that day that overlooked the attacks, had a missing mom for many hours, has countless streets in her neighborhood named for the lost, and has a neighbor three houses away who lost her husband on 9/11 and her father in the plane crash in Queens that October. If she was feeling some relief at the death of Bin Laden and hope that it might signal a new era, then I fully support those human emotions.</p>
<p>I do think there’s something to be said for celebrating the small victories, and that’s not something we get to do very often. The military has small victories every day, but if the government were to make a big deal about those people would scoff because the war at large is still raging. I don’t object to people celebrating for that reason, I think BECAUSE of the culture of violence people need /something/ to celebrate. I think it’s a little weird, but I get it.</p>
<p>Ds called to say they were watching at college, but we hung up before the speech started. I hope to talk to him today and see how he feels about it and the reaction on campus. Many of his floormates are int’l. Should be interesting to hear what they think.</p>
<p>I am proud because I called my political Junky to tell her something was going on. She said her whole dorm erupted when the news came out. She wasone who was at the White House, I didnt want her to do this (safety) but i can see why she wanted to. Terrorism is all these kids have known. Much like us with the cold war.
I for one am tired of seeing them celebrate, and perhaps coming from a military family, I dont like the softening image of America. So I was celebrating our victory, our troops, and OBama showing we still have b@#S. He showed them he can call the hard shots and will not lie down. Anyway I never celebrate a death, or murder, but there was no option to take him out alive and I am glad he is gone. Hoping there is no retribution, but not confident of that.</p>
<p>My son said a cheer went up in his dorm. One of his best friends is at the Citadel and he said the place went crazy.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone is celebrating death in general, only the fact the world is rid of yet another crazy person who has caused mass destruction and the loss of many innocent lives. It’s like a collective sigh of relief for everyone who lived through the events of Sept. 11th.</p>
<p>We are Presbyterians. Our church doesn’t preach hellfire and damnation, but most of us believe in a literal hell. My 15 year old kept asking “where *is *he?” I asked, “as in his soul?” We’ve never been a family to try to make judgments about the eterinal resting place of others, but D knows that if anyone deserves a literal hell, he’d be on the list. Sobering to ponder.</p>