Lower Manhattan's student population was ordered back to the area by our government after 9/11 without disclosure of the risks we would face. At the time, many of us returned, entrance to our school buildings required filing through checkpoints manned by armed police and National Guardsmen, fires were still burning at the World Trade Center site, and debris was being taken to the landfill by way o
f a barge located directly outside our a large number of school buildings. Although the Board of Education continually assured us of the safety of the air at our school, the smell of smoke was suffocating for months. We have no way of knowing what health effects will or have already emerged because of the lack of monitoring. Even for those of us with minor conditions, however, health coverage gets more expensive every day and is difficult to obtain on a starting salary. As victims of 9/11, and, especially, victims of our government’s misinformation campaign, we served as "draftees" in the media campaign to reassure the American people. In exchange, we deserve our government’s protection, and to that end, we deserve monitoring and treatment for any and all 9/11-related conditions.
