roles and identities

there has been a spate of drowing incidents lately, in swimming pools and reservoirs. i'm disturbed not by the drownings, but by how the media referred to the victims.

"There have been a few drowning incidents involving students during the past few weeks..."
"A few students have drowned during the school holidays.."
"Should there be more preventive measures to ensure the safety of our students?"

the victims, whom i choose to address as teens or children, are always referred to as Students. are we now seen as faceless students and workers, rather than as individuals? technically there is nothing wrong calling them students, but i'm suddenly disturbed by it. =(