Piper Alpha?
Recently, several of the BBC podcasts I listen to have had commemorations and tributes to the victims and survivors of the Piper Alpha disaster which happened 20 years ago this month. I was initially unaware of the Piper Alpha tragedy until these remembrances aired. At that time, I was in high school in a small town with only 1 radio station, a weekly newspaper and 3 fuzzy TV channels, but I would think I would have heard something about it had it made the news in the States.
I'm interested in knowing what Britons my age or younger know about the tragedy. I don't need the specifics - I have found out a lot from the news podcasts and further research on my own. I'm really much more interested in what British students have learned in school about the event. Is it covered in History classes? Is it something that's passed down by word of mouth (ie: "When I was your age...")? Those of you who are in your teens and 20s, do you know about it or had you not heard about it before the recent renewed media coverage? Are you aware of the recent media coverage?
I guess what it really boils down to is this: the podcasts and some of the online articles I've found make it appear that the Piper Alpha disaster is a scar on the nation's psyche. I'd like to know if the average Briton feels the repercussions of that day deeply or (meaning no disrespect to those who died) if the current media blitz has skewed its importance in recent British history.
I'm interested in knowing what Britons my age or younger know about the tragedy. I don't need the specifics - I have found out a lot from the news podcasts and further research on my own. I'm really much more interested in what British students have learned in school about the event. Is it covered in History classes? Is it something that's passed down by word of mouth (ie: "When I was your age...")? Those of you who are in your teens and 20s, do you know about it or had you not heard about it before the recent renewed media coverage? Are you aware of the recent media coverage?
I guess what it really boils down to is this: the podcasts and some of the online articles I've found make it appear that the Piper Alpha disaster is a scar on the nation's psyche. I'd like to know if the average Briton feels the repercussions of that day deeply or (meaning no disrespect to those who died) if the current media blitz has skewed its importance in recent British history.