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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Sandy Hook: Demolish or Renovate?

I read an article on how people are debating on whether we should demolish the Sandy Hook Elementary school, or renovate it. People have very strong feelings towards the shooting that happened at Sandy Hook elementary school, and it reflects in the quotes from parents. One mother said "We cannot pretend it never happened, but I am not prepared to ask my children to run and hide. You can't take away their school." Another mother with surviving children thinks that the building should be crushed because she can't come to terms with sending her kids back to that building. One mother thinks that it should be up to the victims to decide because the incident had the most impact on them. Additionally, there are facts about aftermath of past shootings. For example, Virginia Tech decided to renovate the classroom where the shooting occurred. 

The author tries to make you feel sympathetic yet open-minded about the fate of Sandy Hook Elementary School. The author does this by showing lots of different perspectives of families that may or may not have been involved in the incident. The author incorporates the quotes really well and includes facts that are thought provoking because you can see what happened in past situations. The author wants you to form an opinion based on facts not bias. For example, the article ends with the quote "I think we have to start that conversation now. It will take many, many months to do any kind of school project. We have very big decisions ahead of us. The goal is to bring our students home as soon as we can."

My opinion on Sandy Hook is that they should demolish the building because the memories are very tragic and traumatizing and it would be hard for the students to return. One mother says that she had very good memories there, her kids are older and previously attended Sandy Hook, and she thinks that they should renovate. I don't think that's a legitimate argument because she wasn't a primary victim. I didn't have an opinion prior to reading this article because I wasn't aware that this argument was being discussed. After reading the article, I strongly think that Sandy Hook should no longer be a school because I can't imagine returning to the scene of such a traumatizing event. 

2 comments:

  1. I think this is a very hard topic to handle. Is there even anything to be said? I totally agree with you. Sure, no parent wants their kid to "run and hide", but even with renovations-- it will always be Sandy Hook elementary school. There is no way to undo the tragic event, or erase it from anyone's minds. If I went to that school, I would never be able to walk through the school doors and feel safe again. This is why the issue of gun control is so important! So we don't have to face events like these. Good job Hannah.

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  2. I understand the idea of renovating because a familiar scene is traumatizing. I don't really understand tearing down the school altogether. If it truly is what the kids want, then they should do it. But if it is the parents pushing to have this school destroyed, then I think renovating is the right thing to do. Nice job Hannah. You picked a good article.

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