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Six in 10 young Americans first learned about 9/11 in school, per Pew study

The survey found that 93% of those who were at least 10-years-old at the time recall “exactly where they were or what they were doing when they heard the news.”

Menin 9/11 September 11
New York City Council speaker Julie Menin makes a major funding announcement at the 9/11 Memorial Museum and tours a new exhibition, Sept. 3, 2026. Credit: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit.

Six in 10 American adults born after 2001 first learned about the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks via schoolwork or in class, according to a Pew Research Center survey released on Thursday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.

Some 10% of American adults were born after the attacks. Of that group, who are between the ages of 18 and 24, just 16% first heard about the attacks from relatives or friends, while 8% learned about them independently through something they read or watched, according to Pew. Another 14% could not recall how they first learned about 9/11.

Of those born before 2001, 83% remember “exactly where they were or what they were doing when they heard the news,” including 93% of those who were at least 10 at the time.

Pew surveyed 5,166 U.S. adults from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30. The poll was conducted primarily online, with some respondents interviewed by telephone. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 1.6 percentage points.

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