Newton Residents Vote to Tear Down Sandy Hook Elementary, Rebuild for $50 Million

[DefunctTheory]

What... why?

The school didn't shoot anybody, a mentally-ill person with a gun did.

This video was meant to mock the government, but I believe it applies here.

God, I love the Onion.

Very applicable to this thread. Bravo.

 

[rofltehcat]

I can understand that some people may not want to be reminded of it but why rebuild it in the same spot? I mean there is no real difference to renovating it this way. Those people will still be reminded of it this way.

 

[Miss G.]

Absolutely. I wish they did something about the gun thing instead. But then people get so defensive about their right to own them.

Is there any rational reason that they're like that? The one time I've asked my American classmates about these gun issues the discussion devolved into a cacophony of (almost) shouting (because this was like 30 seconds before our 10 minute break was over) before I could even finish my question. I understand that my outsider view of Americans is inherently distorted from what they really are, but that incident didn't exactly help their case.

It's one of those berserk buttons I guess. Never mind the actual argument.

Oh, that makes sense. Now I know its just better to not ask Americans again, at least, if I want an actually coherent/civil answer. Thanks.

 

[RoonMian]

The whole question about this being wasteful aside... 50,000,000$? What materials are you guys over there behind the Atlantic using to build your schools? Gold-plated adamantium?

 

[GladiatorUA]

Yes, give more attention to the shootings. Provoke more psychos to do more flashy suicides. Give them more impact!

Commemorate the victims in the school and move on.

 

[Fireaxe]

50 Million to rebuild a school. What the hell are you crazy yanks building schools out of, hollowed out gold bricks full of oil?


Can completely understand why they'd want to tear it down, as can anyone who understands the term "flashback".

 

[Evil Smurf]

Okay, maybe bad memories are worth that much, maybe the infrastructure needed replacing or maybe I'm missing something. However I'd spend the money on gun control reform to emulate Australia's gun laws, we really have it down here.

 

[Billy D Williams]

Classic American way of avoiding real issues. The entire country is immature. They think like 12 year olds. It's not gonna solve anything. It's not gonna fix anything. It's just going to cost more.

No offence but isn't accusing an entire country of being immature being extremely immature?

Granted, you are right that its fucking stupid as shit to build a new school. I'm not kidding when I say this, if your really that worried about it retile the floors that have blood on them and repaint the walls. Seriously, there is no reason to even do this, its gonna take 2 years to rebuild the school and by then most of the kids who were scarred by the event will be gone, most of the kids who are left were to young to be scarred by it and all the new kids coming in will be to young to give a shit.

 

[shootthebandit]

this is possibly the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard. nothing like sweeping the problem under the carpet. when this happened in the UK the government reacted by tightening gun control even more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_school_massacre

In fact world no.3 tennis player Andy Murray was actually a survivor of the dunblane massacre

 

[WanderingFool]

Classic American way of avoiding real issues. The entire country is immature. They think like 12 year olds. It's not gonna solve anything. It's not gonna fix anything. It's just going to cost more.

Spoiler: *ahem*

The ENTIRE country, huh? All 300 million of 'em? EVERY SINGLE ONE of them thinks exactly alike? Is that REALLY what you're trying to say?

Fucking hell, keep talking about immaturity.

Classic American way of avoiding real issues. The entire country is immature. They think like 12 year olds. It's not gonna solve anything. It's not gonna fix anything. It's just going to cost more.

Absolutely. I wish they did something about the gun thing instead. But then people get so defensive about their right to own them.

Do you guys REALLY think there are no Americans who support gun control? Because then this will blow your goddamn mind: I'm American, and I support gun control. Frankly, I don't think anyone should own anything bigger then a pistol, and even that should be fucking hard to get.

I mean, I'll be the first to admit that my country is ruled over ,and largely populated, by ignorant, stubborn, borderline-insane cunts. But please, don't insult me by grouping me in with them just because I had the misfortune of being born here, and because I don't have the money or means to leave. I mean...It's kind a big place, guys. There are a lot of people. We absolutely do not just agree on fucking everything. I can't believe I even have to EXPLAIN this.

OT: Oh, and that Sandy Hook thing is really dumb, too. Obviously accomplishes nothing but wasting money. Flies in the face of common sense, etc, etc. Sorry, did I just blow your minds again?

Thank God I wasnt the first the think that...

Captcha: spin doctor

???
You trying to say something, Captcha?

 

[Sidmen]

Okay, maybe bad memories are worth that much, maybe the infrastructure needed replacing or maybe I'm missing something. However I'd spend the money on gun control reform to emulate Australia's gun laws, we really have it down here.

The problem with this, is that its written into our very constitution (the thing that gives our government the right to exist) that the government literally cannot impinge on its citizens' right to bear arms (own and use weapons).

If someone tried to amend that out of existence, it would fail. At least half, if not more, of the US believes that people have a right to own firearms.

Instead, maybe we should look into peoples' mental health. The Sandy Hook shooter and the Virginia Tech shooter were both known to have psychological problems. And nothing was done to help them.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Okay, maybe bad memories are worth that much, maybe the infrastructure needed replacing or maybe I'm missing something. However I'd spend the money on gun control reform to emulate Australia's gun laws, we really have it down here.

The problem with this, is that its written into our very constitution (the thing that gives our government the right to exist) that the government literally cannot impinge on its citizens' right to bear arms (own and use weapons).

If someone tried to amend that out of existence, it would fail. At least half, if not more, of the US believes that people have a right to own firearms.

Instead, maybe we should look into peoples' mental health. The Sandy Hook shooter and the Virginia Tech shooter were both known to have psychological problems. And nothing was done to help them.

We can still buy guns in Australia, I've got friends that go shooting. I'd limit the guns allowed to banning the sale of semi automatic and automatic weapons. A limit of 5 guns per person, having ammo and the guns kept in separate locked boxes with a metal health check and history of violence/criminal activity check before the registration of a (mandatory) gun licence.

I'd also put money into the civil services (police, health, education, etc) as so people feel safe enough to not have to a gun for protection. I'd institute a gun buy back scheme so people can at least have a financial incentive to not have guns.

I'm not advocating the complete ban of guns, just cutting it back to a place where people can turn on the news and not see "13 shot dead in local school." So people can go out and not have to pack heat just to go have coffee. If you needed the gun (Farmers having fox attacks for example that be fine.) you could get one. Is that so bad?

I'm not trolling, I just feel very sad when I see people die.
I hope rebuilding the school helps the people in the town.

 

[Ryotknife]

Well, I cant find any information on it, but the school might be old such that renovating may cost almost as much (and still have the "psychological" problem) as building a new one.

From what I could figure out from the school's website, it's not even that old. It only had information on the place dating back to 2011.

So yeah, they built themselves a brand new school for grades K-4, and vote to demolish the place just over a year later.

possible, but unlikely. First of all new schools are pretty rare. Most places are using schools built shortly after WW2 due to the baby boom. Newtown's population as of 1940 was 4,000 people, by 1980 it was 19,000. Now it is 28,000.

Nor do the pictures look like its from 2011. It looks more like 60's or 70's architecture.

EDIT: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/15/inside-sandy-hook-elementary-school/1772307/

school was built in 1956, so the building is a bit long in the tooth so to speak.

EDIT 2: Apparently it will cost just as much to renovate as it will to build a new school.

http://newtownct.virtualtownhall.net/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_BBoard/042BD08D-000F8513.0/SHES%20Building%20QA-5-1.pdf

"Analysis of the renovate vs. build new by the Advisory Committee showed that costs to renovate this 56 year old building, bring it up to code, eliminate the portables, make it energy efficient, provide necessary safety features, and more, generated a cost almost at the same level of new building construction."

can we all stop jumping on the "americans are stupid" bandwagon now?

 

[Sidmen]

Okay, maybe bad memories are worth that much, maybe the infrastructure needed replacing or maybe I'm missing something. However I'd spend the money on gun control reform to emulate Australia's gun laws, we really have it down here.

The problem with this, is that its written into our very constitution (the thing that gives our government the right to exist) that the government literally cannot impinge on its citizens' right to bear arms (own and use weapons).

If someone tried to amend that out of existence, it would fail. At least half, if not more, of the US believes that people have a right to own firearms.

Instead, maybe we should look into peoples' mental health. The Sandy Hook shooter and the Virginia Tech shooter were both known to have psychological problems. And nothing was done to help them.

We can still buy guns in Australia, I've got friends that go shooting. I'd limit the guns allowed to banning the sale of semi automatic and automatic weapons. A limit of 5 guns per person, having ammo and the guns kept in separate locked boxes with a metal health check and history of violence/criminal activity check before the registration of a (mandatory) gun licence.

I'd also put money into the civil services (police, health, education, etc) as so people feel safe enough to not have to a gun for protection. I'd institute a gun buy back scheme so people can at least have a financial incentive to not have guns.

I'm not advocating the complete ban of guns, just cutting it back to a place where people can turn on the news and not see "13 shot dead in local school." So people can go out and not have to pack heat just to go have coffee. If you needed the gun (Farmers having fox attacks for example that be fine.) you could get one. Is that so bad?

I'm not trolling, I just feel very sad when I see people die.
I hope rebuilding the school helps the people in the town.

Perhaps it would be useful for you to look up actual statistics. Murder rates have been declining incredibly rapidly for more than a decade. There is less and less reason to be terrified when you go out on the street. But such things don't make the news corps. big money, so they'll blast TV with any and every negative and horrible thing they can think of to keep up viewership. Just now, they're on a "gunz R bad" kick and are showing shooting massacres. A few years ago they were all about pretty white girls getting kidnapped and raped while traveling abroad. And once people start growing numb to shootings, then they'll put on something else to exploit.

Besides, limiting the number of guns, the ammo capacity of such, and whether or not they can be auto, semi-auto, or single-shot is pretty much the definition of impinging on the citizenry's right to bear arms. If such a thing were to become law here, I'm all but certain that it'd be struck down by our courts - and if not, I'm pretty sure a civil war would be the end result.

 

[Veldel]

Classic American way of avoiding real issues. The entire country is immature. They think like 12 year olds. It's not gonna solve anything. It's not gonna fix anything. It's just going to cost more.

Way to group and stereotype everyone together buddy.



OT: This is stupid and a full on waste of money just clean up the school some and it will be good as new but no waste 50 million that could be used on much more important stuff.

 

[Agayek]

Is there any rational reason that they're like that? The one time I've asked my American classmates about these gun issues the discussion devolved into a cacophony of (almost) shouting (because this was like 30 seconds before our 10 minute break was over) before I could even finish my question. I understand that my outsider view of Americans is inherently distorted from what they really are, but that incident didn't exactly help their case.

There's plenty of rational reasons for being against gun control, typically ranging from a general dislike of what is seen as government interference in private affairs to taking umbrage at being compared with the people willing to shoot up a school to a fundamental belief in the correctness of the ideas expressed by the US Constitution.

The problem is that everyone on both sides is so sure that their way is correct and that the other side is willfully getting people killed that whenever the topic is brought up, everyone immediately defaults to an incredibly hostile bristling against the (real or imagined) incoming slights.

We can still buy guns in Australia, I've got friends that go shooting. I'd limit the guns allowed to banning the sale of semi automatic and automatic weapons. A limit of 5 guns per person, having ammo and the guns kept in separate locked boxes with a metal health check and history of violence/criminal activity check before the registration of a (mandatory) gun licence.

This is pretty much exactly what we have in the States. The only difference is that (in most states) there's no limit, semi-automatics are legal to purchase and you don't generally need to keep the ammo and gun in different containers.

Having a limit of guns per person is kinda silly though, to be perfectly honest. Anyone that's going to shoot up some place isn't going to be carrying around more than 1 or 2. Guns, especially the rifles typically used for that kind of thing, are big, unwieldy things and carrying more than a couple is pretty much impossible if you want to be able to actually use one.

 

[2xDouble]

What? That's so stupid and wasteful. It accomplishes nothing other than wasting money. How the hell did they get enough people to vote for this thing that it actually passed?

You're right, how dare a town vote to build a new school building!? Schools should remain exactly the same buildings they've been for decades if not centuries. I mean, it's not like technology, construction, and infrastructure needs for a building, let alone a place of education, have improved at all in the last 80-odd years...

 

[Miss G.]

Do you guys REALLY think there are no Americans who support gun control? Because then this will blow your goddamn mind: I'm American, and I support gun control. Frankly, I don't think anyone should own anything bigger then a pistol, and even that should be fucking hard to get.

I mean, I'll be the first to admit that my country is ruled over ,and largely populated, by ignorant, stubborn, borderline-insane cunts. But please, don't insult me by grouping me in with them just because I had the misfortune of being born here, and because I don't have the money or means to leave. I mean...It's kind a big place, guys. There are a lot of people. We absolutely do not just agree on fucking everything. I can't believe I even have to EXPLAIN this.

OT: Oh, and that Sandy Hook thing is really dumb, too. Obviously accomplishes nothing but wasting money. Flies in the face of common sense, etc, etc. Sorry, did I just blow your minds again?

Yes, mind blown (a little). I equate it to my disbelief when hearing that there are indeed CoD players that are civil and/or a pleasant bunch to be around. As I mentioned a little later in this thread, just asking about gun control got me an answer on par with calling a group of Edward Elrics any variation of 'short', to say the least. While it is really hard to think that there exist Americans that actually support gun control, especially when looking at it from the outside, I guess you've opened my eyes a little and I hope there will be a time when others like you have the clout (political or what have you) to make those changes a reality.

 

[Fox12]

Classic American way of avoiding real issues. The entire country is immature. They think like 12 year olds. It's not gonna solve anything. It's not gonna fix anything. It's just going to cost more.

I agree. It's just a way to avoid the whole gun rights debate.

Honestly, they should just try to do the right thing and make sure all the faculty are trained in the proper use of fire arms, and then provide weapons for the individual in the administration offices.

: P

 

[The_Echo]

...

See, it's obvious how retardedly wasteful this idea is. But, I'm kind of wondering... why is this coming to light now, nearly a year after the shooting?

If it being the site of a shooting were so intensely traumatizing for the community in a timeless sense, wouldn't they have wanted to... do this earlier?

I don't fucking get it. This is dumb. This is so dumb. Did Virginia Tech get torn down and rebuilt? Or... y'know, any other school that witnessed a shooting ever since the dawn of time?

$50 million.

$50 million.