Question:

Will the revelation that the Colorado shooter was homeschooled have a negative impact on homeschooling?

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The homeschool stereotype of social maladjustment is a popular one for traditional schoolers. Do you think that this part of the story will become a focal point of the story or is this story already done?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316387,00.html

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13 ANSWERS


  1. yes, but others have been brick schooled and shoot up their own schools, such as Columbine.

    All it shows is that people are people.


  2. I'm sure that some people will make an issue of it. I don't understand why though, compared to the kids that do awful things that go to public school, homeschoolers are still barely on the radar screen.

    Someone has already stated- I believe- and I agree that no matter if they are home schooled or in public or private, parental involvement is the key. You can't stick a kid in front of books or a computer, or send them off to a building and have NOTHING to do with their education and upbringing.

  3. Not here...no more than the colour of the t.shirt he was wearing will have a negative effect on clothes manufacturers!

    The only thing about this story which is having any sort of negative effect in my country is that the church had armed security guards (!!!!).

  4. Personally, I think there are plenty of homeschooled kids who do fine.

    The Pentecostal homeschooled kids worry  me.  I've caught a lot of flack on the R&S board for that opinion, but excessive religiosity when combined with isolation (not all homeschoolers have this problem, but many Pentecostals do) smacks of cultism.

    The shooter posted on a site for ex-Pentecostals that dating was not allowed because it was not Biblical and that they were meant to have the church leader help them in this respect.  The problem isn't homeschooling per se, but homeschooling when combined with this hyper-religiosity, IMHO.

  5. The media *always* has to point out when someone is HS'ed and does some awful thing.  Why not mention the parochiol school kid, or the boarding school kid, etc.

    While this is a "negative" for HS'ing, in the same week there's the great HS news that a former Kdg-to-12th HS'ed student, the son of missionaries, won the Heisman Trophy!

  6. Well, considering the number of school shootings and school shooting threats going around from kids from private and public schools, it SHOULDN'T be exploited, but it most likely will be.

    And also, just because one home-schooled student went on a shooting rampage doesn't mean that I will, or that my home-schooled friends will, or that anyone that home-schools will.

  7. Some might, but hopefully they'll be logical enough to keep in mind this guy was thrown out of school, which means there were problems before homeschooling. Although I truly think we can't hope too much as there are too many people irrationally deadset against homeschooling.

  8. Our homeschool group has been chatting about this off and on all day today.  I really don't think so.  Sure there will be those ignorant few who continually look for news flashes to support an already negative opinion about the homeschool movement.  However, considering how much of an "equal opportunity" situation these recent shootings and the older ones are, they would have to spread the blame across a pretty wide field to capture all the "causes" of the insanity.

    Starting with Columbine- you have all bullied Goths,

    The young father who killed the Amish girls-  all young men driving milk trucks with abuse in their past.

    VATech- children of immigrants, also anyone with a history of any mental illness however mild or severe

    The young man at the Colorado mall -  all foster children

    The young man at the Colorado church and school- homeschoolers (maybe homeschoolers over 18????),   or maybe young men living in Colorado

    Now the Las Vegas school bus shooting-  all gang members or anyone living where gangs are a problem.

    Seems like a pretty broad brush we are painting this sad picture with in this case.  The mental anguish and violence can touch anytime, anywhere.  It is a very sad time!

  9. I think some, especially those with interests in the NEA, etc., will exploit that point, especially when lobbying for stricter guidelines and laws for homeschoolers.  Some will use anything, any bad publicity, as "proof" why homeschoolers need to be more-closely regulated.  

    So, yes, I think it will have a negative impact on homeschooling.  It won't be the focal point of the story; obviously, the shooter is and so are his victims.  However, there will be those individuals (or even groups) who will use this story as evidence for their bias against homeschooling.

    Whatever happens, the shooting, like all others, is tragic, senseless, needless, and is what happens when parents don't train up their children while maintaining a heart-level healthy relationship with their kids, whether they homeschool, private school, or public school their kids.

  10. People who know many homeschoolers will discount it as an aberationo because they know homeschool kids are frequently better adjusted to interacting with the adult world than traditionally schooled kids.

    Those that know a few will either ignore it if they view those kids and families positively.  If the view of those kids are negative, it will just reinforce it.

    If someone doesn't know any homeschooled kids, I'm sure it will increase their bigotry and ignorance.

  11. I would say no.

    People make choices, and these choices; good, or bad have to do with a persons character, or lack thereof.

  12. That's like saying that all public schooling is horrible since there are many public school kids that shoot others.

    Stupid people do stupid things no matter how they are educated.

  13. If you read the article, it states in the middle:

    "In a search warrant affidavit, investigators said Matthew Murray attended a home-based computer school and had worked at his computer for three to five hours a day for the past two years."

    Some have debated here on YA if a *pure* "home-based computer school" is really homeschooling.  

    I think there is much more to the story that we may never know.  Why was a 24 year old taking classes online from home?  Was he attending an online college? The story does not make this clear.  The article also refers to some kind of health problems but does not elaborate on this.

    Yes.  Some people will use this as ammunition that homeschooling is "bad" even though the overwhelming evidence is otherwise.  

    I don't know that one can logically conclude cause and effect with this tragedy.  

    If one applies that same logic to every adult criminal...

    *** UPDATE

    Hannah M... sure brought up an interesting point about armed guards at the church.  I've never been to a church that had armed guards.

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