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those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
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What is
Independence Day?
By Abigail Bond
Edison Communications Student
On July 4th 2017 I attended the annual parade on Miami Street in West
Milton, Ohio. I walked the street asking 12 children the same question,
“why are we here today?”. Many of the children would beam, saying
excitedly, “for the parade!” and others would say “for the candy!” They
were all very enthusiastic and were enjoying the celebratory
activities, but none of them seemed to understand what I was asking.
I added to my question and asked “what are we celebrating?” I was
shocked to hear that 11 out of the 12 children all agreed we were
celebrating for the “fireworks” that would come about at a later time
that day.
One little girl told me we were “celebrating God”, “freedom”, “America”
and “eagles”. Although none of the responses were what I was looking
for, her enthusiasm about her freedom to spend the day “celebrating
God” in “America” was slightly uplifting.
At least one of the 12 children understood that July 4th was about more
than a parade, candy and fireworks (which seemed to be the universal
belief). I gave each child a brief explanation on what the day was
about then turned to the parents and gave them a quick “thank you for
participating” then went on the next group of kids.
Parents seemed equally as shocked as I did when their children didn’t
know the answer to my question. The sad reality of this situation is
that youth today do not know about our history and how we gained the
freedoms we celebrate today. It is incredibly important that we teach
them about our history so they know the true meaning of Independence
Day.
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