I've always known that Andy went to the school where the massacre took place, but I didnt' know if or how much he was involved in the tragedy. Decided to look it up today:
Murray was a former pupil of Dunblane Primary School between 1992 to 1999. He was eight years old and in Primary Three when the Dunblane Massacre devastated the school, resulting in the deaths of a teacher and her sixteen Primary One pupils. Murray, however, says he was shielded from the aftermath of the tragedy and, still being a child, wasn't truly aware of what was going on. In 1999, he went on to attend Dunblane High School.
The Dunblane massacre re-emerged in headlines after Andy Murray, who was an 8-year old pupil who attended the school during the time of the shooting, won the U.S. open junior tennis crown in 2004.[1] There have been numerous articles referencing Murray's exposure to the Dunblane massacre and statements that Murray survived after hiding in the headmasters office during the terror.[2]. No student is mentioned to be hiding in the office of the headmaster in the official report, thus it is believed to be untrue. As one reviewer of Murray's unofficial biography points out, he and his family are unwilling to speak publicly about the incident, leaving speculation as to the level of exposure and effect the tragedy had on Murray.[3] Murray has made public statements about the incident, saying he attended one of Thomas Hamilton's boys clubs and did not realise how difficult a time the town had following the massacre, adding that Dunblane has recovered well and moved on.
I hope it's true what Andy says about not knowing what went on. It really was a terrible incident. Does anybody know any more about this? What about Jamie Murray, was he at the school at the time? The statement in that about himself and his family not wanting to talk about it is understandable but as stated above, does leave questions open about the possible psychological effect on him. Sorry if this is a bit of a heavy thing to bring up, but it was quite a major event in the life of Andy and his family and I just felt as a fan I should and we all should know what happened.
All in all, I just hope it's true that Andy isn't still affected by this. Any comments guys?
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
As hopefully all the people involved have moved on, I doubt if it would be helpful to any of them to drag this up again. To be quite frank I find the subject a little lurid & distasteful. If the board had a complain button I would now use it.
Either way, it did happen. Some terrible things happen in the world, to discuss them is not lurid and distasteful imo. It's called reality. Is it wrong to discuss World War 2 because "people have moved on"
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
I personally take Andy at his word when he says he didn't really know what went on as a child, and was shielded from the worst effects of it. I'm sure it was a scary day for all the children at that school and I think it's understandable that people would draw a connection between the two things Dunblane is now famous for, but my own feeling is that the event has had no significant impact, on Andy's psychology or in a more general sense. I get the feeling that his family see it as a shocking and terrible event a long time ago, that they have no wish to dredge up and potentially open up old wounds for those who genuinely did suffer losses or injuries on that day. There's no need to dwell on it or make it a talking point.
Having said all that, it is a legitimate topic for discussion and however distasteful some may find it, I find the concept of wanting to use a forum complaint to shut it down to be a major overreaction. There's a simple solution if people are talking about something you have no wish to be involved in - ignore the thread. Wanting to shut the topic itself down is a form of censorship and an imposition of your own morality on others.
Thanks scoobs, I was starting to have some doubts about whether this should have been a taboo I shouldn't have mentioned.
I always think that in many ways it is important to remember events like this in order that they must never be allowed to happen again. If you forget the mistakes made in that school's security, then the terrible things that happened, happened in vain.
As scoobs says, if you see a thread titled "andy murray and the dunblane massacre" and you find the topic offensive, don't click on it!
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
Thanks scoobs, I was starting to have some doubts about whether this should have been a taboo I shouldn't have mentioned.
I always think that in many ways it is important to remember events like this in order that they must never be allowed to happen again. If you forget the mistakes made in that school's security, then the terrible things that happened, happened in vain.
As scoobs says, if you see a thread titled "andy murray and the dunblane massacre" and you find the topic offensive, don't click on it!
I agree with John on this but as it's not 'Tennis', I'm not sure this is the right Forum. I worked with a survivor (complete with tatooed number) from an extermination camp in WW2 Germany but we never discussed it as the work topic at hand dominated....... that is moving on..... I guess..... (big time)....
Mods:- Could we have a 'Speak Easy' section for non Tennis discussions?
We have a Chat section. I agree we should move this thread to the chat section
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
When I look at what Andy & Jamie have gone on to achieve since that day, I often wonder what these other children would have gone on to achieve in their lives if that chance had not been so brutally taken away from them. So much potential destroyed in a heartbeat. Twenty five years on and this event is still so tragic.
RIP little ones. I am sure your teacher is still watching over you.
This only happens in America and there is such a large proportion of their population that just don't get it, that dont see the link. I watched that speech with tears in my eyes. I hope they do something.
Heartbreaking. Shut guns and rifles can be sold to 18 year olds in the US, these same 18 year olds are not deemed responsible enough to purchase liquor or sit at a bar. I would like to see the age raised to 25 to purchase all guns as a minimum change to the law, but very doubtful they would make any very radical changes.