ABC News September 11th Teen Poll, August 2002

This special topic poll, conducted August 25-28, 2002, was undertaken to assess opinions of teens about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Teens were asked whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the country, whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about their personal future, how proud they were to be an American, what they planned to do after high school, how involved they felt their parents or guardians were in their lives, how much stress they had in their lives, whether they felt depressed, and how safe they felt in their day-to-day lives. They were also asked how safe they would feel flying in an airplane, being in a tall building, being in a big city, or being in a crowded place. Other survey questions queried the teen respondents about how often they thought about the terrorist attacks that took place in New York and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, whether their lives had changed since then, and whether they had made any changes in their personal plans for the future because of the attacks. Respondents were also asked if their parents had made any new rules about where they were allowed to go, whether they had to check in with their parents, whether they felt they knew how their parents felt about what happened September 11, 2001, and whether they felt the same way about the attacks as their parents. Teens were also asked if, right after the attacks, they had felt frightened about what happened, scared that there might be more terrorist attacks, worried about their own personal safety, worried about the safety of any friends or relatives, confused about who would do this and why, angry at the people who had perpetrated the attacks, or confident that the United States would handle the problem, and whether they continued to feel those things now. Additional questions probed for whether they had trouble sleeping right after the attacks or trouble now, whether they felt they had a good basic understanding of Islam, and whether they had heard any other kids or adults say prejudiced things about Muslims, Arabs, or Arab-Americans. Background information on respondents includes age, gender, education, and whether they lived in a large city, suburb, small town, or rural area.