I think what bothers me the most here is this was not a “one time mob attack” …this has been ongoing every weekend in Oct until it blew up into the extra large mob scene attack referenced above. That means that Temple Police were well aware of the growing dangers and to not put out warnings or the Temple alert until two hours after the attack is inexcusable…
Witnesses interviewed on the news last night said the paintball shooting attacks have been happening everyday.
I really think the university needs to organize a community outreach re violence reducing discussion between neighborhood residents and Temple students… Or something along those lines like that. I think this has the [potential to get worse before it gets better unless administrators starts being more proactive.
I have told Dd she needs to remove Temple from her list. I was concerned before she even applied, but she wanted to and did. But, in my mind, it is no longer an option.
@TomSrOfBoston I did not say it was normal. I said city life has an outside element that you cannot control. Sadly our world is becoming less normal every day.
I talked to our son a little while ago, and it sounds like the feeling among students is “ok, we’ve gotta be careful” as opposed to “I want out.” Our son grew up in a neighborhood where you need to keep your eyes open, though. I don’t blame parents who are afraid for their Temple kids, but we’re still ok with him being there.
@kathyrain because Temple has great programs and opportunities. Don’t make decisions on attendance based on recent events. When the Baltimore riots broke out a few years back, there was similar concern about Johns Hopkins and MICA students, but time passed and applications are rolling in again. If people decided not to apply to schools based on school violence, there would be a long list of schools to be avoided.
In terms of crime, the overall crime rates in the US have been trending down since the peak of the crime wave in the early 1990s. Yet people generally believe crime is rising even when it is falling: http://www.gallup.com/poll/186308/americans-say-crime-rising.aspx .
Philadelphia specifically has been less successful at reducing violent crime than many other cities (in particular, violent crime remained high through 2006, before falling more recently), but homicides, violent crime, and property crime are still significantly lower now than in the early 1990s. See http://www.phila.gov/MDO/phillystat/Presentations/Phillystat%20Final%201.70_without%20video.pdf .
This is my first post and I wanted to say that I logged into my cc account to view the forum on Temple, and was quite surprised to see this thread on the violence that broke out last weekend. My D, myself and friends went for the Fall Open House today and absolutely fell in love with the school and the campus as a whole. I had a preconceived notion about the Philly area and Temple being in the middle before our visit, but was pleasantly pleased with our visit. I’m glad that I didn’t read this forum before our visit because it would have been a tainted visit for us. I think that his type of violence can happen anywhere and will not let this incidence hinder our decision.
So far my D has applied to Pitt, Temple, NYU, Smith, U of Miami, Ohio State, Purdue and UMBC and U of Michigan. I mention this because I believe that the violence that presented itself at Temple can happen at any of these schools above as well and we will not remove the schools from the list.
This level of violence can happen in quite many places, but probably not anywhere. I have a hard time imaging the same thing happen for example at Smith.
I could definitely see a different kind of violence happening at Smith. Northampton has it’s share of sketchy characters. It reminds me of Chapel Hill in a way and Chapel Hill has had it’s share of violence over the years.
@OldCheermomDC I am really glad you and your child liked Temple and its campus. Temple is a great option for a lot of students, and it has some first-rate students and faculty. The university is doing a great job of improving itself in every respect, including its attractiveness to students and its safety.
That said . . . I am fairly familiar with most of the campuses you mention. (I have never been to, or anywhere near, Purdue or Lafayette IN. I have never seen the University of Miami, but I know a bunch of families whose kids have gone there, and I think I know something about the community in which it is located.) I think you are wrong. With the reservation noted above, it is difficult to imagine the specific kind of incident that occurred at Temple a few weeks ago occurring at any of them.
All of them have some level of crime, especially the large universities – that’s unavoidable. Students can and do get mugged at any of them, and at practically every other comparable institution that is not in the middle of nowhere. And of course, the institutions that ARE in the middle of nowhere have their own extensive list of safety concerns, some of which are more serious than anything that would apply at Temple or other urban schools. But a Friday night flash-mob parade of hundreds of non-student youths trying to demonstrate their control over central parts of the campus and immediately adjacent areas? I don’t think so.
That’s not to say that Temple is necessarily less safe or “worse” than any of the others. It just has some specific current challenges that are not the run-of-the-mill issues for all urban universities. I note that the violence that occurred during the parade in question seems to have been the work of only a very few participants, and that other participants tried to restrain them and helped the victims.
Let me clarify my statement to say that crime happens at all college campuses, but not to the degree of what happened at Temple, at least not to my knowledge. The crime can be big or small but it does happened.
Duke is off the list for the same reason. I do remember the lacrosse case and the mobs (headed by faculty) that put posters on the campus asking to castrate white students accused of raping black exotic dancer (acquisitions were never proven!).
I do not understand how a parent may subject his/her child to this intimidation even PAY college to expose his / her child to mob violence. BTW, my child is not white, but she may look white (especially at night) and I do worry about her safety. She certainly doesn’t need this education.
How safe is it in Philadelphia, around UPenn? Is it safe from mob violence? Could it happen there?
< Life in a city can be unpredictable. But she wants to live and work in one eventually, so Temple will definitely prepare her for that. >
I grew up in a big city with high crime. However, I’ve never ever experienced mobs that go through the streets intimidating civilians. This is NOT a typical city- live!
OK, one of the cities, I know, was overrun by violent mob once. It ended in bloody riots. My family was safely away from that city. Don’t wish my children to be anyplace near such event.