Human history is full of heart-breaking incidents that remain ever sobbing even after years, and the 9/11 attacks are one of the central examples of such incidents that raise many questions about human brutality. The incident occurred at around 8:40 am on September 11, 2001, 19 militants belonged to the terrorist group Al Qaeda who hijacked four airplanes. Al Qaeda used these hijacked plans to carry out suicidal attacks against targets (Pentagon and World Trade Center) (Eric, 2019). Two of the planes hit two adjacent towers of the World Trade Center in New York, while the third one hit the Pentagon situated outside Washington, D.C. The fourth and last plane was crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. About 3000 people lost their lives in this attack, which is even remembered today as a black day in United States history.
There is no doubt that this threatening event was of great significance as it changed the lives of thousands who had to live without their loved ones. This event cast its impact on all the fields of life, i.e. art, entertainment, educational institutes, social and political life, international relations, individual life, science and mental conditions of people. This event was also of great importance as it initiative a war against terrorism that was the root cause of this event (Library, 2019). The United States became more conscious about its security and policies and called a war against terrorism and Al Qaeda.
This event proved a life-changing event for thousands. A lot of research has been done on the 9/11 attacks. Different dimensions are being discussed in these studies that are being done on this brutal act of Al Qaeda. Not only researches were done, but also many people who survived this terrorist attack described their gloomy experiences and how this event changed their lives. Most of the researchers believed that this event influenced the lives of American citizens a lot, and they fell victim to many psychological disorders (Psychological and Emotional Effects of the September 11 Attacks on the World Trade Center, 2019). According to the research carried out by Bertel and his colleagues, these events had deeply affected both physically and mentally the residents of America; however, its effects are rarely studied (Hansen et al., 2016). This study also claims that damaging effects on the psychological health of people go beyond America. In this article, researchers claimed that visible effects regarding mental disorders of this terror attack have been witnessed in the Kingdom of Denmark. There has been reported an increase of 16% in the incidences of trauma and stressor-related disorders. This report also showed that the psychological impacts of these incidents are not limited to Americans, but to a greater extent, it left impacts on people around the globe.
According to Steward (2009), events like 9/11 do not have limited effects. Rather, all walks of life are being affected by this kind of event. In his book, the author mentioned that 9/11 casted impacts specifically on arts, media, and entertainment. Darkness and grief have become a prominent colour in most of the artwork and entertainment industry. Literary works and paintings started portraying the effects and impacts of this destructive event. Both these studies provide help in understanding the effects that show a close connection between the topic and its influence.
Some people survived during this event and shared their heart-drenching experiences with researchers and media reports. Most people believe that luck was the driving force that saved their lives in this event. According to the article by Garrett M Graff, those who survived this incident mostly fell victim to many mental health issues. Graff (2019) mentioned the experiences of a few people who believed that it was just their luck that saved them that day. Things being described by the people who survived helped in understanding what pain of victims who went through this event. This article also provided a closer investigation of this event as these people experienced this incident so the information provided by them was more credible. After analyzing both primary and secondary resources, there comes a question in my mind: what are the steps that authorities took to improve the system of practices implemented in the travelling security to avoid such events?
Though the whole world got trembled by this incident certain groups were affected the most. Also, drastic events like 9/11 make countries aware of their security policies that they need to review. Students, health institutes and policymakers are the main audiences who would benefit the most from this message. I would tailor my message by publishing in media and newspapers. I would circulate my message on social sites so that victims of these events who are suffering from disabilities or the loss of loved ones could be given moral support. Easy and simple historical terminology has been used. Also, in the message where little difficult historical terminology has been used, I used certain examples to facilitate the readers and the audience.
I clearly explained all the things so that the audience could get the information that I wanted to communicate. States and related examples are being used for effectively communicating with the audience. To effectively communicate my message to the audience, I used stories and articles which describe the personal experiences of people who were directly affected by this event. Also, I seek the help of social media to effectively communicate my message to my audiences. I would say that to make a healthy understanding between the audience and the message, one must mention stats and stories of people’s personal experiences so that the audience would relate well and develop a better understanding.
References
Eric Levenson, C. (2019). 18 years later, Americans stop to remember the September 11 attacks. CNN. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/11/us/911-attack-remembrances/index.html
Hansen, B. T., Østergaard, S. D., Sønderskov, K. M., & Dinesen, P. T. (2016).The increased incidence rate of trauma-and stressor-related disorders in Denmark after September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. American journal of epidemiology, 184(7), 494-500.
Library, C. (2019). September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts. CNN. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from https://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/index.html
Psychological and Emotional Effects of the September 11 Attacks on the World Trade Center — Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, 2001. (2019). Cdc.gov. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5135a2.htm
Stewart, R. (2009). The Impact of 9/11 on the Media, Arts, and Entertainment: The Day that Changed Everything?. Springer.
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