Next generation faces flood of 9/11 misinformation from those who weren’t even born yet

2026 marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. To me, it still feels like yesterday, as I'm sure it does for you. That is, if you were born or old enough to remember.

I'm probably one of the few who was still in high school that got to witness the second plane hit live on TV. It was purely by luck that we got to see it happen.

I remember it clear as day. I was in history class, and our teacher, Mr. Kennedy, was about to put a video in for us to watch. But when he turned on the TV, we saw the live coverage of the first impact.

Mesmerized, we couldn't stop watching for about five minutes. After that, Mr. Kennedy proceeded to push the video into the VCR. But just as the VCR was about to grab the video, the second plane hit.

I still get chills just thinking about it. I will never forget. Sitting in history class (out of all classes), second seat back, third row from the door.

us a flag under cloudy sky during daytime

The social media era, 25 years later

What really upsets and angers me about what I see on social media regarding 9/11 is mostly created by individuals who either weren't alive yet when 9/11 happened, or were too young to really recall the events of that fateful day.

As time goes by, I'm noticing more and more "experts" sharing what they want to believe actually happened. This even includes how 9/11 couldn't have unfolded the way it did, or by creating and sharing  AI videos and trying to pass them off as genuine with their own nonsense of what really happened.

Even sadder? I know it's probably just for clicks. This kind of content is hurtful, and only spreads misinformation about the biggest tragedy our country has ever seen.

I know I can't stop these fake theories and made up facts from being shared. I just hope enough people in our future generations have enough common sense to not feed into this garbage online. We need them to ensure history will be remembered for what it actually was.

9/11 plaque in Hamilton (Mercer)'s Veterans Park

Remembering those we lost, 25 years later

With that said, it's still hard to believe we're 25 years removed from the tragedies of that fateful day, even though the memories for so many of us are still raw. Aside from remembering the classroom I was in, I also remember the smell of the air that afternoon, and how lost my mom looked when she came home from work.

May we never forget all the brave and innocent people we lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.