Is it right for Purdue to resume classes an hour or so after a shooting?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/21/justice/purdue-shooting-report/index.html

I just think it's astonishing. A teaching assistant died, and yet students are being told to attend classes as if nothing happened. I've been following students' tweets and it appears the school isn't doing a great job of keeping students informed of the details.

As an American it worries me that the reaction to a fatal school shooting was basically "problem solved, everyone go about your day." Are we really becoming so desensitized to this sort of thing that a shooting is treated like a car accident or a gas leak?

Idk. I don't like the fact that we're getting used to school shootings (or shootings in general, really.) It's terrifying to think that shootings are becoming more and more common, and it absolutely blows my mind that people are still willing to argue against gun control because they want to defend their PlayStations from burglars or whatever.

Sorry. I needed to vent. :s-smilie:

Reply 1

UniMastermindBOSS

19

I think less education is the last thing Americans need tbh

At my secondary school, someone got stabbed once and we carried on the day as usual. Why wouldn't we?

Reply 2

may348

OP

1

Original post by UniMastermindBOSS

I think less education is the last thing Americans need tbh

At my secondary school, someone got stabbed once and we carried on the day as usual. Why wouldn't we?

Was it a fatal stabbing?

I mean, a member of the school community died. If I were a student I would at least want the rest of the day off to think about what happened. I think it's disrespectful to both the victim and the students to expect everyone to spend the rest of the day pretending it didn't just happen.

Reply 3

Olie

20

I just wonder how many shootings is it going to take for the pro-gun nutters to finally admit that gun control is needed in the US? I don't know how common they are, but is it starting to get to the point now where a school shooting like this is so common that its not even top news? Though I realise its not quite on the scale of Virginia Tech or one of the big ones.

Reply 4

Ronove

18

Original post by may348

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/21/justice/purdue-shooting-report/index.html

I just think it's astonishing. A teaching assistant died, and yet students are being told to attend classes as if nothing happened. I've been following students' tweets and it appears the school isn't doing a great job of keeping students informed of the details.

As an American it worries me that the reaction to a fatal school shooting was basically "problem solved, everyone go about your day." Are we really becoming so desensitized to this sort of thing that a shooting is treated like a car accident or a gas leak?

Idk. I don't like the fact that we're getting used to school shootings (or shootings in general, really.) It's terrifying to think that shootings are becoming more and more common, and it absolutely blows my mind that people are still willing to argue against gun control because they want to defend their PlayStations from burglars or whatever.

Sorry. I needed to vent. :s-smilie:

From your own link:

But a few hours later, Purdue Provost Tim Sands announced classes for the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday were canceled.

Reply 5

may348

OP

1

Original post by Olie

I just wonder how many shootings is it going to take for the pro-gun nutters to finally admit that gun control is needed in the US? I don't know how common they are, but is it starting to get to the point now where a school shooting like this is so common that its not even top news? Though I realise its not quite on the scale of Virginia Tech or one of the big ones.

They're still rare, considering the fact that most schools in the country haven't had a shooting. But I feel like they're becoming more common. Most school shootings aren't on the scale of Virginia Tech, but within the past couple of weeks there was one at another university in Pennsylvania, one at a high school in Philadelphia and one at a MIDDLE SCHOOL in New Mexico. (The gunman was 12!) Not to mention the one in Colorado in December, where a girl died. Also, there was a horrible story in the news recently about a 4-year-old who found her grandfather's gun and tried to play with it, and ended up shooting and killing her 4-year-old cousin. Shootings in general are actually very common, but are usually gang-related and/or occur in the inner city and don't make it past the local news. But yeah, my concern is that we're getting to a point where we just think, "well, just another school shooting, nothing new here..."