THE END OF OUR BOOGEYMAN

"Instead of asking 'what if disaster strikes,' we ask ourselves 'what if it strikes again?'"

      The man who committed the most heinous act of terrorism in American history is finally dead.  Now, the generation that's grown up in hs shadow has to discover where the world goes from here.

      Ask anyone off the street what changed in the Sept. 11 attacks and you'll likely hear the same answer:
"Everything."
      From the politicians in the Capitol to the countless citizens of every town or city in America, practically everyone will be able to tell you how their lives were irrevocably changed when the Twin Towers fell.
      On that fateful late summer morning, they'll tell you, it wasn't just the World Trade Center that collapsed into rubble, but the very world we lived in.
     Out of the ashes came a new, dangerous and terrifying existence referred to almost ubiquitously as the "Post-9/11 World."
     Often lost in the clutter of politics, media and history, however, is the generation for whom the Post-9/11 World has been the only world.  Either by being too young to remember how the world was before or by being born too late to even see it, there is an ever-growing portion of the population that has always lived with the threat of attack.  A group that, along with spelling tests and multiplication tables, had to learn the government's terror alert scale and what a "threat-level orange" meant.
     Now, with the recent death of Osama bin Laden, that group is learning a new word: closure.  The man who has haunted the nighmares of countless Americans for almost a decade is finally gone, shot dead by Navy SEALs in a nondescript compound in Pakistan.  And while the world at large debates how this affects the War on Terror, it gives the "9/11 Generation" an opportunity to stop and reflect on the effect the past decade has had on them.
      It is difficult to overestimate the impact that bin Laden had on the children who grew up with his influence in the world.  Many sources had titled him a "modern-day boogeyman," an almost mythical creature lurking in the world's shadows and waiting for his opportunity to strike.
      "He became a personal nightmare for me, says a 17-year-old Yardley resident who wished to remain anonymous.  "As a kid, I would be afraid that he would be hiding in my house; I thought that he would be out to get me."
      If that description sounds familiar, it is because it is hardly the first time that this sort of fear has permeated American society; in the 1940s, the aura Adolf Hilter held over America and Britain had several similarties to the one cultivated by bin Laden over his decade of influence.  Likewise, during the Cold War period of the 1950s through the '80s, the Soviet Union carried the same nigh-omnipresent threat that groups such as al-Qaida benefit from today.
     However, both these comparisons fall short of being perfect parallels to the effect that binLaden and his terorist network had on the Post-9/11 Generation.
     The enemies of the past, for example, were by and large content to remain abroad; previously, the only attack even close to American soil had been at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
     The terrorists of today, on the other hand, are not only all too eager to strike at our home, they're willing to strike at civilians.
     In the same way, the paranoia of today is far more personal than the kind that haunted earlier generations.  Instead of fearing if a full-blown assault will be launched on your nation, or if some foreign power will declare war, there is the all-too-intimate fear of those around you ---for example, whether the man sitting across from you on a bus is looking for a pen in his backpack or setting off a detonator.
      But perhaps the most important fundamental difference is that we no longer live in a world of "what-ifs," as was the case in the Cold War.  Instead, we inhabit a world where these attacks have already occurred and have already taken countless lives.
      Instead of asking "what if disaster strikes," we asks ourselves "what if it strikes again?"
      It will mostlikely take decades for the full effect of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to settle and the full influence they had on today's generation to become evident.  But already, some signs have become clear: Teachers at my school have noted that students have become "politically knowledgeable," and are "showing an increased interest in world affairs."
      However, while students today may be more well-informed of the world and the dangers of terorism that inhabit it, many are also feeling increasingly distant from it. 
      "I never really responded to the threat of terorism; it's just something that I've been conditioned to accept, "  says Bensalem High school senior and fellow reality panelist Jessica Jordan.  "I grew up surrounded by the constant fear of a terrorist atack, so it's something I'm used to."
      She's not alone in that assessment.
      "I'm pretty emotionally distant from the threat," says Holy Ghost Prep senior Kevin Corcoran.  "At this point, news of terrorism sounds like the intro to a Vin Diesel movie."
       This dismissive, almost jaded view of the terrorism threat is incresingly becoming the norm for high school students.  However, it is important to note this doesnot mean they believe they are somehow "immune" to the threat of terrorism; only the most foolhardy of individuals would believe that.
        I was only 6 on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks occurred in New York City.
       At that age, I knew what was happening, but I didn't understand it.  People were crying and some that I knew survived, but nothing made sense.  Burning buildings aren't what 6-year-olds like to watch on television.
      Due to the amount of security we now have, planes don't scare me.  I traveled to Orlando, Fla., by plane four years ago without hasitating or second-guessing myself.
      Terrorist attacks, however, do scare me.  The enemies' technology is so advanced that no one knows exactly how bad it could get.  No one knows exactly where or what time an attack will occur.
       I don't live in constant fear, but the news is on a lot more often than it should be.
       There is a newfound sense of freedom now that Osama bin Laden is dead.  Finally, he has been caught.
       I am proud of our president for this accomplishment because bin Laden was so elusive.