"Straight A student who had lots of friends got killed"

[Happyman]

Have you ever noticed that news articles will often say something like that. I'm not sure how all these people happen to become straight A students, I would think that is a very rare feat. And god forbid if they were loners who didn't have a lot of friends. I guess it would make it less tragic if they weren't popular.

[Cerberus]

I've noticed the same thing. News articles will often talk about how pretty the student was, how popular the student was, and so on. I haven't noticed many articles about what s greeaat goth a stufent was lmfao. I"ve read few if any articles about some loser. It's like htey omit those kinds of articles. "this student was hated by many and had not friends...." lmao.

[Happyman]

lol yeah..."this student had social anxiety and spent most of their by themself"

[coldmorning]

You'd be surprised at the nice things people can come up with about anyone.

[Mr. Frostman]

Originally Posted by Happyman

lol yeah..."this student had social anxiety and spent most of their by themself"

No, that's the kid that killed the popular, straight A student.

[WineKitty]

It is considered unusual in society to not have friends. I would say most people on this site would agree with that, or they wouldn't be here.

Its an unusual characteristic that may be too broad and general but an unusual one, lets face it.

[anonymid]

A classic piece of satire from The Onion on just this sort of thing:

UGLY GIRL KILLED
Nation Unshaken By Not-So-Tragic Death

CASPER, WY—The people of America remained unmoved Monday as the sparse, barely attended funeral procession of Edith Pelphrey made its way to Pinelawn Cemetery in downtown Casper.

Edith, a homely six-year-old with thick glasses and a decidedly non-winning smile, was laid to rest largely as she had lived—unnoticed by the general population.

Discovered strangled with a length of nylon cord on Jan. 4, reported to the police Jan. 15, and finally investigated two days ago, the story of unattractive little Edith and her savage killing has failed to tug at America's heartstrings.

To the few who knew her, Edith was an unattractive, awkward little girl who failed to stand out among her first-grade classmates at Jefferson Elementary School. And it is this lack of social grace, more than anything, that makes her all-too-brief life—and its all-too-brief ending—all the more not-compelling and non-poignant in the eyes of a city and a nation.

The normally lively streets of Casper were quiet today. Not because the city was mourning a loss that had shaken it to its core, but because of the capacity crowds attending this weekend's 1997 "Li'l Miss Casper" pre-teen beauty pageant, a contest that Edith, had she lived, surely could never have entered, let alone won.

Edith's death—so sudden, so unremarkable—has not sent shockwaves of grief and despair rippling across the land.

"The American people face bold new challenges in the 21st century," President Clinton said Monday in an unrelated speech which made no mention of the incident. "We will rise to meet these challenges together."

Said Time magazine editor Richard Turner, "I want to stress that we have no intention of featuring Edith Pelphrey on the cover of Time."

"Neither will we," concurred People magazine's Kathie Holcomb. "There's just no sell."

But who was Edith? What was she going through as she neared the end? In these modern times, do we as Americans even care about such questions? The answer is clear, and it is: no, we do not. But now, after what little tears there were have long fallen, lingering questions about Edith's murder remain, failing to elicit anything beyond indifference from anyone.

"I was just going to the bookstore," said Casper resident Dan Vermeer, 24, moments after learning of Edith's death. "After that I'm supposed to meet a friend at a coffee shop."

"Hey, look at this!" a visibly agitated Rev. Geoff Noyes, of Casper's First Methodist Church, said to MaryAnn, his wife of 43 years. "They're having a sale at Safeway! Look at those tuna discounts."

These Casper residents, like millions of people across the nation, will not form any sort of activist group or mobilize to find Edith's killer; launch any sort of posthumous tribute; order any flower arrangement; or sing moving hymns in her memory. Neither, for that matter, will they ever know who she was, nor would they care to.

Why was she found strangled in her own home? There was a ransom note found with the body, but no kidnappers or, for that matter, evidence of any kidnapping at all. Could it be that the murderer was actually someone from the Pelphrey family itself? By and large, nobody could care less.

"I told you already that I have no idea what you're talking about, sir. If you keep calling here I'll have you fined," Casper chief of police Wayne Daugherty told reporters.

It's obvious that Edith, too homely to give a second thought about in life, is even less likely to attract anyone's attention now that she has been laid to eternal rest.

"I feel deeply, with every ounce of my soul, that something must be done to ensure the public that no matter what happens in the future, this night will not be forgotten, and that the Li'l Miss Casper Beauty Pageant will continue to inspire us all," Casper Mayor Roger DiNizio said, addressing an assembled crowd of 11,000.

Upon the completion of DiNizio's remarks, the pageant audience—decked out in their finest for the occasion—cheered, rising from their seats in a spontaneous standing ovation.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30112

[Roberto]

I talked about this with my friend after a murder here in my town involving upscale "golden children" so to speak, perfect and beautiful over-achievers in every respect. It was all over the news for a week. The mom was on Oprah, twice. They were good people and this is not to criminalize them for the publicity they got, but the same thing happened to some poor minority kids a while later and it got maybe 4 minutes on the evening news. I felt guilty. I don't know what to say about the tragedy or shock factor of one murder or death vs another, it doesn't make the life that was lost anymore invaluable. ; - ;

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Roberto

I talked about this with my friend after a murder here in my town involving upscale "golden children" so to speak, perfect and beautiful over-achievers in every respect. It was all over the news for a week. The mom was on Oprah, twice. They were good people and this is not to criminalize them for the publicity they got, but the same thing happened to some poor minority kids a while later and it got maybe 4 minutes on the evening news. I felt guilty. I don't know what to say about the tragedy or shock factor of one murder or death vs another, it doesn't make the life that was lost anymore invaluable. ; - ;

It's the same over here. If you are from an affluent background then it will be reported in the news and will most likely become a big deal in every paper. If you are poor then there are usually only a few posters locally. How photogenic you are also seems to be directly linked to the column inches you get.

[shyvr6]

They say that because it brings more sympathy for the victim.

[SilentLoner]

That was the main reason I didn't want to die while I was in high school. Two students died during my time there, and each time they would announce it over the PA and empty the career office to make a place for their friends to gather the day it happened.
I knew that if I died the room would be empty.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by SilentLoner

That was the main reason I didn't want to die while I was in high school. Two students died during my time there, and each time they would announce it over the PA and empty the career office to make a place for their friends to gather the day it happened.
I knew that if I died the room would be empty.

[Shauna The Dead]

I've noticed that too when I hear about girls around here dying... "She was very popular and loved by everyone"... if I died I probably wouldn't even make the news, unless I died in some bizarre crazy way(and even then they'd probably just mention it once -- "Strange girl dies in bizarre, mysterious way" and then you'd never hear of me again!), since I'm not well liked.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by Shauna The Dead

"Strange girl dies in bizarre, mysterious way"

That would be a hilarious thing to see in a paper.

I for one revel in my obscurity.

[ardrum]

Whenever someone gets killed/murdered unexpectedly (not like a government execution), the news will often portray the person as more desireable/likeable than they really were. Another good example is with dead soldiers... A friend of mine knew a guy who recently was killed in Iraq, and the article described him as the kindest, most respectful individual. In reality, my friend said he was the biggest ******* he knew.

[TheGMan]

Originally Posted by SilentLoner

That was the main reason I didn't want to die while I was in high school. Two students died during my time there, and each time they would announce it over the PA and empty the career office to make a place for their friends to gather the day it happened.
I knew that if I died the room would be empty.

It's good you didn't die in high school. Though that's not the only reason.

My experience was that whenever anyone died in high school, all the survivors became their good friends. Even if they never spoke. It was more of a bonding thing and non-SA people seemed to be moved regardless of their previous relationship with the deceased. Yeah, it's probably more of a "big deal" if it's someone popular, but just about anyone would receive similar treatment.

[SadRosesAreBeautiful]

Originally Posted by SilentLoner

That was the main reason I didn't want to die while I was in high school. Two students died during my time there, and each time they would announce it over the PA and empty the career office to make a place for their friends to gather the day it happened.
I knew that if I died the room would be empty.

In my senior year of high school, one girl died in a car accident not long after another student committed suicide. The girl was popular, on the softball team, very pretty, had many friends....the guy--he had a few good friends, but was not popular, dressed differently from everyone else, etc.. My classmate was friends with the guy, and that's how I found out about his death, but as for the school population as a whole, the mood was really unaltered. As for the girl, it was a school-wide tragedy. I don't think there should have been any less attention that was given to the girl, because her life was imortant. But his life was equally important and should have gotten an equal amount of attention. It scared me too, because I thought if I had died while in high school, it would have gone largely unnoticed.