Solemn faces, slow paces and attentive ears, this is how we are expected and expect others to carry themselves on Remembrance Day. It is a day to put yourself in their shoes, the shoes of those who fought to save our lives while losing their own in return.

War creates victims, killers, heroes, widows, and losers but no winners, there is no victory when there is war. Lest we forget.

It seems every year as we all get a little older the concern that people are not taking the time that they used to for Remembrance Day grows a bit more. Are they teaching enough in schools? Is there enough in the media? What it means to be a veteran and what has been sacrificed so that we can enjoy our lives as we do today, are they teaching that?

A recent example in the media shows both the yes and no of this question. Last week Notre Dame high school was bombarded by media who were outraged by the fact that this school has cancelled their Remembrance Day ceremony that they have been hosting for the past 19 years and let’s be honest, rightfully so. However, according to Bonnie Campbell – principal of Notre Dame, “this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion.”

“We are still having our Remembrance Day ceremony and we are still inviting in veterans into our schools to speak with our students,” said Campbell

Allegedly, the teacher who was in charge of running the symposium resigned and that is the main reason they aren’t running the symposium, it is because there was no one willing to take his place.

It is not the reason why the symposium is not taking place that is shocking, it is the reaction and the speed of the reaction that is surprising.

We are so worried about people forgetting to remember, or not taking the time to remember that we jumped on this so quickly it is possible we missed the point here.

In no way is this to support Notre Dame high school, it’s just to say that perhaps one high school cancelling one symposium isn’t the problem.

There are countless ceremonies taking place throughout the city on Nov. 11. Some more in depth than others but there will be space for everyone to mourn, remember and thank veterans in the ways in which they choose, regardless of whether Notre Dame holds their symposium or not.

So often people fall into thinking of veterans as elderly people who a long time ago fought in these horrible wars, filled with countless and unspeakable tragedies. It seems that a lot of us forget the fact that the person sitting right next to you in class could very well be a veteran of war. Young people in their 20’s and 30’s coming back from Afghanistan are to be remembered too.

We are so worried about forgetting the past that perhaps we have forgotten to acknowledge the present.

It is absolutely imperative that we teach young people the importance of Remembrance Day and the immeasurable amount of horror so many people went through to get us here, but that does not make it right to point fingers at those who have chosen to change the way in which they hold their ceremonies.

The most remarkable thing to come out of this temporary finger pointing, how dare you mentality that we collectively bestowed upon Notre Dame is that we did it together. We took the time to stop and say “hey, what’s happening here is wrong.” We took the time to join together and fight something we felt was a disgrace. Is that not the whole point of this day? To remember those who joined together to fight for our freedom.