Robinson Secondary School on 9/11

On September 11, 2001, I brought my camera to school - Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia - to shoot some footage of my friends before Calculus class. As I was known as one of the school's resident filmmakers, it wasn't unusual for me to always be carrying my camera around.
The bell rang. Our teacher Mr. Perencevich came in and announced, “Some idiot flew a plane into the World Trade Center.”

[@neovideo2957]

this has such a weird vibe to it... having it start out with teenagers hanging out & doing unrelated things makes it feel like one of those found-footage horror movies

[@Jargonecius]

I was in highschool when 9/11 happened. This is pretty much exactly how it felt at my school too. It was a weird day.

[@CriminalMacabre]

it was an horror movie, that ended with a lot of those kids dead in some ditch in kandahar or faluja

[@C64CANON]

yes this was me in school now being 32 years old looking back sure does feel wierd. we was just early teens here i was 13 going on 14

[@C64CANON]

@@Jargonecius i was in 8th grade

[@BeenSauce]

I was 17 on 9/10/01 coming home from the bronx. The weather was actually quite amazing, and I decided to stop at central park, sit on a huge rock and eat an eggroll I bought. From there with only about $10 on hand, I walked all the way downtown to Tribeca, picked up a slice before heading home, and took a glimpse down West Broadway (I think) to see the twin towers. By the time I had gotten home the sun had set, and where I lived in Ridgewood, Queens - I could see the sparkle of the skyline at night. My home was at the top of a hill, making it quite a sight to behold before packing in for the night. I woke up around 11 am the next day to my mother sobbing uncontrollably. The TV was on, with nothing but smoke billowing out of the towers. I had no idea it was merely a replay. Running outside, I could already begin to smell the towers, but had no idea I was only going to see a stack of smoke left where the buildings used to be. Never knew what it could feel like for someone to collapse to their knees in such stark powerlessness.

[@C64CANON]

it sure was a bad day up and now Covid 19 but man i was 13 years old on this day. i turned 24 on October 24 of That year and reading your story puts me in your point of view. i wish i had the chance to see the towers i mean as a kid i seen them on TV but never really understood them as powerful epic towers even in 2001 going to the statue of liberty i know i seen the towers that summer but my mind did not thinkl much of them as im portant and famous they were. I live in Queens. I wish i had to oppertunity you had at 17 to get a glimps of them the day before. by the way, you still live in NYC?

[@ashisgroovy5333]

Oh my God this takes me back. I graduated in 2002 and the remainder of that year just seemed off. After graduation with some friends I joined the USAF and them the Army. Looking back on everything, it was a choice I would have done differently. Wars not a video game with respawn.

[@dylanslemp4069]

It’s really strange watching this footage. That first minute and a half was basically the last time these students lived in a pre-9/11 world, before everything changed for the worse. Thank you for uploading this footage.

[@holodoctor1]

This is incredible footage. Someone doing a film project or a class project just happened to catch real high school students reactions during it. I was in jr. high at this point, and I have so many memories from this day. This sums it up so well. It’s absolutely still traumatizing to watch this footage, even today. 😕 Bless everyone who died that day. 🥺

[@_Cato_]

Something tells me that kid at 2:20 flew off to war soon after this video.

[@ImOkayThanks]

From someone who knew the uploader to the guy who posted this on reddit. "He does, I just messaged him. We are having a mini reunion via facebook right now. One of the people in the video even made an epilogue for you: "Also, this feels like it needs some kind of epilogue... Today, the filmmaker still keeps in touch with his friends from high school and is still interested in film making. Two of the students are married (to each other). One is a medical doctor. And another went on to attend West Point and continues to serve his country. We can only assume that the twins are no longer wearing matching outfits today. :)" Thanks for bringing but both good memories, and some sad ones too."

[@eliseolopez8568]

A. Morales What is Facebook? I’ve never heard of it.

[@jaqenhghar5794]

@@eliseolopez8568 Damn that's deep

[@twentylush]

its scary to think some of these kids probably signed up to go fight in the east

[@FullMetalNapkin]

I knew that moment. I did 4 years and 3 deployments. I skipped out on a free ride to UConn.

[@mrboss6808]

They didn't do the draft in 2001 but some of them vollentered

[@Rockinruffhouser]

I did but in 2014 after hs graduation.

[@txterbug]

Kid that was getting emotional definitely did

[@mattpetersgm]

Sums it up pretty well. You're starting to believe it's a big deal but it takes a while to hit. I actually started laughing when I saw those kids crack smiles when they saw themselves being filmed, it's just a natural reaction.

[@merfwriter]

I'd be like, "Dude why are you filming? Put the camera down, just watch the TV. This isn't the right time to be film right now.

[@guyfierimtwi]

Well, it's not like it's going to be shared 5 seconds later

[@3dgamerman]

those smirks when the camera turned to them

[@stephenTcartwright]

When I saw the news I didn't believe it was real and I'm from the UK. It took persistent reports for it to start to set in what had just happened.

[@averageobserver7834]

It was probably more of a nervous response than anything else. This high school is in Northern Virginia so its likely some of these kids in the video had family members who worked in the pentagon. I can with almost certainty say that none of them found anything about what was happening to be comical.

[@datsun51]

these kids did 9/11

[@tyfann8395]

I mean when you're so disconnected from the situation. I was in my freshman year and when the buses took us home the theme was like 'free day off from school i guess?'

[@davidguinn5355]

Those are the smirks of children being filmed by their friends. The gravity of the situation hadn't settled in yet. I was in school when we heard the news too. On the way home, a kid on the bus had printed out a picture he found on the internet of people jumping from the towers. He was passing it around, talking about how 'cool' it was. People on fire. Death. Destruction. This was the height of the gothkid/emo thing in our area. A lot of more outrageously stupid teenagers thought they were standing out by being edgy or something. Christ, I don't know why I'm trying to frame this in a frigging youtube comment. I've read other comments here. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@fitzcannon]

I was in high school when 9/11 happened, it was truly a day of fear, everyone in class though we were getting drafted into a war.

[@nathanmedina2809]

Fitzcannon wtf what high school did you go to a military school

[@FluffyBunny9002]

Me too. Sophomore at the time. I just found my old agenda book from back then where I would write my homework assignments and for every class I just wrote "watched news".

[@Mistamista69]

you know I like this video, it seems like in all the movies about 9/11 they have an over the top, Oscar worthy reaction to 9/11 but these kids actually have realistic reactions, kinda like hearing about a school shooting in 2018

[@rachelmcnamara950]

Watching all those kids realize the world had just completely changed gave me chills. Would you consider a follow up? Track down the people in this video and do a kind of "where are they now" and "how did this change your life.?"

[@nathanmedina2809]

Rachel McNamara wtf the world did not completely change

[@Kravis63]

@@nathanmedina2809American culture changed in a lot of ways.

[@devinbrucephotography]

More than American culture. It’s touched every part of this world - the Five Eyes program turned the whole world crazy.

[@eggsaladbob]

This is incredible footage. Thanks for sharing.

[@HaleXF11]

And then we lost a huge chunk of our freedom as Americans. The End.

[@candiduscorvus]

And it's never coming back because people have somehow accepted it and violently complain any time someone stands up to those who continue to want to take more away.

[@mlee-w664]

Wow I remember I was in kindergarten on 9/11 and I remember being really scared that day. And for years after when I saw a plane, I would watch it to make sure it wasn't going to hit my apartment building. :/

[@Peteork25]

I graduated in 2020 from robinson. Seeing this video shot me back to my last couple days of school before lockdown. The sheer amount of nothing that we knew.. I’ve seen looks on those faces I’ve seen within the self.

[@cloudofthought]

Thanks for sharing this. It brings back that feeling of genuine, altruistic, national unity. Sadly, following 9/11 we allowed that temporary unity directed against "the other" to blind us to the dangers of legislating from fear. A sort of national PTSD, expressed yet denied, limiting our long-term perspective, and creating polarizing fissures equal in magnitude to the unity once experienced. Now people rally around a "leader" who promises a "unity" by pointing fingers at others, "strength" by punishing the weak, and "greatness" by acting the same as the terrorist we abhor.

[@cloudofthought]

Haha. Wat? I was referring to Donald Trump, not the President. It's interesting how you could interpret it that way. I can't see it, but then again there's a lot insane right-wing rhetoric out there. A lot of people can't even agree on the basic facts due to the polarizing echo chambers and filter bubbles they live in, so I don't blame you. Siri Keller

[@sirikeller317]

cloudofthought Well that makes the quotes around leader more accurate. But by saying, "people rally around a 'leader'", I don't know how you would expect people to understand that you mean Trump. He's not a 'leader' of anything yet, yes he has rabid fans who rally around him, but not a leader of anything in the US currently so that makes what you said confusing.

[@VinceFromCollateral]

nationalism is the purest political force to ever exist. the reason people rallied around ideas of nationhood and tribe is because they were attacked by outsiders who wished to destroy them. these outsiders-- the "other" you call them-- internalize a deep-seated in-group/out-group mentality and see violence against our group as totally justified. "humanists" "like" "you" "can" "use" "scare-quotes" all day to delegitimize the natural desire to meet the challenge by embracing nation, but it will not change immutable social-biological functions overnight.

[@C64CANON]

The Kid at 2:16 Of The Video And His Expression At 2:23 Of The Video. You Can Feel It.

[@MonumentalTeam]

If you weren’t aware, many kids at this school had parents who worked at the pentagon and they had to wait until the end of the day to find out if mom or dad was ok.

[@Hypurman1]

It's interesting seeing the different reactions. I was a senior in h.s. on that day, but in New York City. From our classroom we could see the second plane hit (we were all already watching the smoke from the first one), and the... I do'nt know the word... "atmosphere" (?) of the class was very different. i'd have been curious to see footage of how the Fairfax school reacted to the Pentagon hit.

[@SixSpeeed]

Here we are again, RIP to all the victims. 09/11/2018

[@DefCatofficial]

thank you so much for sharing this.

[@IlluminaudioOG]

These comments gave me cancer.

[@ardie4]

From the time when I was little, even I remember the early 2000’s really clinging on to the 90’s...

[@michael85225]

This video started out in a different era and then after just a minute and a half a new era began. Crazy how much change occurs in this short video.

[@peteypariah6603]

Jeez 2001 has not aged well.

[@wesofx8148]

Dude, I love it

[@Mistamista69]

it's aged better than 2000 or 1999 :P

[@ericradford2142]

No kidding.

[@fuosdi64]

It's aged fine, wtf are you talkin about

[@nicholasworley4164]

I went to Robinson Secondary School and was in 10th grade geometry class when we all found out. Very eery day. School closed early that day and my older brother came and picked me up.

[@sevtosaze]

I was 22 and just finished 4 years in the Army and had just started college. Had weird dreams from a mild fever and stayed home from class that day. Woke up and turned on the news as the first reports came across and watched second plane hit. Eerie morning.

[@nkaink3171]

I live in Australia, & have all of my life. There used to be a kid's show on TV every morning called Cheez TV that showed cartoons. When 9/11 happened, instead of cartoons, there was nothing but news of the attacks. When my mum realised what was going on, she quickly turned the TV off. I didn't understand what was going on. I was 8 years old. It wasn't until I got to school that I found out what had happened. My older sister's teacher rolled in a TV & made her entire class watch the news footage. I don't remember much else from that day. I definitely remember growing up in the 2000s, with irrational fears about Arabs, & heavy security measures being put in all over the place. Honestly, seeing this footage of regular students 8-10 years older than me, in the country that got attacked that day, is really sobering. At the same time, I hope that none of them wound up in the military just to get revenge, or other horrible things, but I suspect some of them did...

[@darkspring9815]

historical footage

[@Incident8]

We may all bicker about our "rage of the day" but when the towers fell everyone was an American and we dropped all the bullshit. Too bad it takes something like that to make us all come together but its nice to know that we do when we need to .

[@spaceballs44]

I was in Lincoln, Nebraska working at a grocery store I was 18 and graduated in 2001 and I listened to this on a morning show and I’ll never forget hearing the DJ and a faint female voice with a screech or high pitch say Oh my God it’s gone. I knew the tower fell. I was thinking of all the people that had just died even in the planes and having to jump or burn or choke to death. This day changed not only America but the World.

[@HassanKhan0987]

That one jump cut hits different

[@weedvideos420]

In New york: 3 Buildings came down with 2 Planes in their own footprint. Makes sense -Mr. Reddit

[@avataz]

I was in history class my senior of high school that day, the teacher came in from another class and told us what was going on. We were in nj and we could see the smoke from the towers from miles away

[@ThisAccountIsNoLongerActive000]

somebody reposted this on tiktok. wow. i've seen tons of 9/11 home footage from the streets of manhattan but i've never seen footage of high school students reacting to it unfolding on television. sure i've heard stories of people being in school and having tv's brought into the classroom when it was announced what was going on but never have I seen actual footage of it like this. as you can probably tell I was only about 10 months old when it all happened and hadn't experienced it like most of the commenters have in the comments. in some way this footage is historical because it reveals how people reacted to this from several miles away -- in real time for that matter. truly sad.

[@user-us3yp2lj3w]

This video confirms that most people 18 and under didn't really comprehend 9/11. You can see that these kids are laughing and having a good time, and even after the news shows the terrorist attack, the kids are still smirking and laughing. Yet those same kids are now in their mid to late 30's and would probably swear up and down how solemn of a day that was and how it impacted them forever in a traumatic way. For most kids, that's not true in the slightest. Most kids just went about their days as normal. I'm of a similar age. I imagine the attack had a different impact on adults, but for kids it was nothing. It is illustrative of a lack of emotional development, and the fact that most of the same kids (now adults) would claim otherwise is disingenuous to the max.

[@LockeProductions.]

Feels like cloverfield

[@stegura83]

Holy crap! Perencivich taught me Algebra 2 back in 2000!

[@biancaj6335]

That’s the school I’m going to next year

[@EpicHotCheese]

My school went into some kind of emergency lock down mode, rumor spread that there's some kind of national terrorist attack. We were locked in our class room for hours and the school kept blasting the same siren over the main speakers. What a horrible day and a shit school.

[@johnnycazares4343]

I was 18 in 911 I got home to see my grandpa cry for 3 days

[@Patrick19833]

I was 18 too.

[@alexlevingston]

I was 8.

[@StephCody]

Yo I’m a senior this year at Robinson Secondary 👀

[@TuckerDowns]

Incredible.

[@JuiceHasser]

I hate even thinking about 2001. Not because of the crash but because there were no Dank Memes back then. How did people even live?

[@fdajj]

dem image macros

[@frenchmen77]

In fact memes have been around for like 2000 years. Romans had a guy with a big dick they would graffiti everywhere as a joke.

[@AngstycAT77]

They weren't all autistic shitposters.

[@RosinGoblin]

We had Pokemon and we liked it.

[@Sc0rch91]

okay you obviously aren't more than 5 years old.

[@Rynnnoo]

Robinson Secondary in Northern Virginia

[@oAirehko]

An 11 hour drive is a lot to ask from a 14 year old. To be honest, when this happened, the reality didn't hit me for a couple years. Even then t was a morbid teenage curiosity. Now another 10 years later, it's a matter of historical investigation. Weird how the mind works with learning.

[@g0ld483]

my cousin was a freshman there at the time

[@santiagosantana3562]

And then I was born 2 days later 🥺

[@dingdongpaddiwack]

I was born almost 19 months after. Crazy to think a whole generation has passed since 9/11. Wish I got to see what the world was like before that.

[@BowlerHatHatHatHat]

I remember this, didn't give two shits for a building I had never heard about. Took the time to sleep and nap. The news has always been great at trying to make the public attach to what they want to. I feel bad for the decent human beings lost in that event.

[@GreatMochaChino]

cool vid i r8 it 9/11

[@mattmun12]

Redditor detected.

[@wesofx8148]

LOL

[@aaronruiz7899]

damn daniel

[@dafebeme2]

1:51 "It was me"

[@vea011]

THIS IS MY HISTORY CLASS RN LOL

[@Sc0rch91]

I was in first grade in southern maryland at this same exact time i remember class that day :(

[@hayesotelo6667]

I was two years old living in Portchester NY on 9/11/2001

[@aloe9350]

on 9/11 my brother was in 2nd grade and they went home when it happened

[@MEGACAMZ]

I remember not knowing the gravitas of the situation at the time.

[@Mortarion6666]

Holy shit, I remember those old school projectors. Used to play finger puppets with them

[@dylan54945]

Wow. This is crazy

[@SoloDolo414]

Crazy, this is my high school. I was there (not that class) on that day

[@LordHarris1]

Those desks are still there..... I would know I attend school there

[@aurelius7778]

I was taking the Indiana 8th grade state test. No one knew until the end of the school day.

[@apeddle]

The Asian students look devastated they couldn't continue their math work.

[@hyetension6595]

started robinson in 07, finished 2012!

[@NowThatsASpicyMeatball]

Wew i was like 2 months old when that happened

[@albumreviewsandsuch3114]

2 days before this,i had just turned 7... i gave no shits about this when it happened because,well i was a dumb kid,but when we went to school the next day,i remember every TV,every computer.... everything just had updates,and news coming from the president,and everything. felt really surreal to see all these different teachers at my school just pretend to act like it didn't happen,but kids would ask questions about it and get shot down quick... weird times man...

[@michaelmyers1586]

1:52 of course...the true mastermind behind the attacks

[@chrisstofanak1646]

💀💀💀💀💀

[@stegura83]

He's Indian. He's the 711 guy, not the 911 guy.

[@joeystoll42]

Is this Robinson HS in Fairfax, VA?

[@noahespinoza9336]

I think

[@emppme4066]

Yes

[@andrewlocklin6054]

what grade were you in

[@lizzychrome7630]

What's with those creepy smiles those three boys did near the end of the video?

[@LeCorBau]

Is this Robinson Secondary School in Virginia?

[@stegura83]

Yes

[@pumpkinpie7446]

I go to this school it's very different now

[@stegura83]

How different?

[@mOnK27640]

How about some of that inside job

[@uuoah]

what state is this in? obviously looks like you guys were close enough to help people with those messages and water bottles

[@kerrt8439]

A high school in Virginia pretty close to DC actually.

[@siegfriedarmory6271]

I went to this school, Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax VA, just outside of DC. I was Class of 2014, so this was way before my time. I remember 9/11 but I was in kindergarten when it happened. Robinson is a 20 minute drive from the pentagon and most of the students have parents who work for the government. I know of one former student who lost a parent in the pentagon.

[@generalsoul1]

Dang this was only 2001... Looking back this video looks as if it's 1988!

[@Mistamista69]

generalsoul1 what videos from 1988 have you been watching?

[@yasharr1828]

bruh my english class last year was in this room lmao

[@holli_bells7048]

Was this of the actual day or did you reenact this

[@thatlosergirlfromnextdoor2039]

🤡

[@dillankhan2002]

is that krellwitz?

[@billroy565]

These kids are in their 30's now. And I wonder if any of them wound up patriotically entering military service and ended up killed or maimed for a lie. Shame on those who made it, or let it happen.

[@lookra26]

Can always point out the libtards

[@koreanchick1231]

Can always point out unintelligent war-mongerers.

[@billroy565]

Eric L: I've always have been a conservative. Voted for Bush once. Then I woke up. You can too.

[@lookra26]

Case and point.

[@jamesmcmanus]

For all intensive purposes, it's a doggy dog world. Case and point - a mute point to beak leer.

[@demosthenisionnou6406]

I go to Robinson

[@hyetension6595]

Robinson Rams baby ;)

[@xJustRightx]

Looks like this was shot in the 80's...

[@lastmiles]

yeah .. building that can withstand ( and did over and over ) hurrican winds will fall straight down like a perfect controlled demolition because of a fire at the top of the tower. yep .makes total sense to me!

[@gromann]

Thankfully you're no engineer :D

[@lastmiles]

Actually yes, I am. With a military background in munitions and post graduate research work in materials science. So yes, I do know what I am talking about and I do know what a controlled demolition looks like and yes I am been involved in them.

[@fp2231]

Its weird how tragedy triggers us to go "QUICK MAKE CONSTRUCTION PAPER FLAGS AND CARDS." Not judging but looking back it does feel odd

[@richardbreault9139]

very fucking cool.. very chilling that class room shot of the kids listening was crazy... i did the same

[@averagejoe1858]

You know this is fake because the description states this is a calculus class but there are women in it.

[@mattebby8528]

It's ok they are asian

[@user-xi2if4tq2g]

I don't know what video you're watching but that girl is definitely not Asian...

[@dummkompf]

there are three asians and the white people are nerds. confirmed calculus class

[@lizzychrome7630]

I'm a feminist and I'm laughing. XDDDD

[@AnonymousY2K23]

Actually, high school calculus classes do have many women. Because most high ranked colleges and state school honors programs pretty much require students to have taken calculus during high school. Even if they want to major in a non STEM field.

[@harleyquinn5774]

September 10th is my mom’s birthday.

[@domagojkucko]

It just had to be done. War is inevitable.

[@ZeranZeran]

1:50 Look at that fucking face. We found him boys.

[@southernpennsyrailfan8579]

1:38 and at that very moment, america changed forever

[@TheTemplesofSyrinx1]

Those asian twins, though.

[@thereconracoon3715]

chicks a good sport

[@kingtoodo2917]

damn you halliburton

[@fuosdi64]

Second day of Kindergarten for me

[@dudeitscoke]

you had a crush on that girl didn't you

[@Cartoon_Games]

*Clearly a fake because the Asian is copying off the girl at **1:08* In all seriousness though, I signed up to join the Army a few days after this. Those who are old enough will always remember where they were on 9-11

[@jondavis2790]

What is the date of the second half?

[@sophiashokraei2121]

This is my school, shit this is weird.

[@BCConcerts]

geezt 2001 had bad fashion sense looking back. looks like 80s attire.

[@grandadmiralthrawn5333]

They're shipping out all that water to NYC to help put out the fires!