Students Learn About The Oklahoma City Bombing 29 Years Later

Many people have pledged to never forget the lives lost in the Oklahoma City bombing. Students who were not alive in 1995 are now learning about how this event changed history.

The lesson inside Abby Tanner’s eighth-grade history class is one she experienced as an Oklahoma student nearly 30 years ago.

“I remember everything on that day,” said Tanner. “I was in the fourth grade, so it was very memorable.”

Now, Tanner is teaching the Oklahoma City bombing to a group of students who were not even alive when it happened.

Some of the kids are familiar with bits and pieces of that day, but at this age, Tanner feels she can go more in-depth.

“In eighth grade, I feel like we can talk more about the emotions that happened,” she said. “They’re more willing to ask more specific questions.”

Tanner plays documentaries about what led up to the bombing and the people responsible.

Other videos from journalists who worked the scene give the students a real perspective.

Tanner said it's important to focus on the victims and their families. It can be hard to believe something like this happened in Oklahoma.

“Some of them are a little emotional because they don’t like to see people get hurt, but they want to understand how to make things better as well,” said Tanner.

Towards the end of class, students reflected on the lesson.

“It helps us learn for the future how to protect ourselves from something like the OKC bombing from happening again,” a student said.

Tanner also talked about the Oklahoma Standard and how it continues today.