The Columbine Shooting (Written April 24, 1999) -
February 14th, 2002, 04:02 PM
Article to Theologyonline.com following the Columbine Shooting.
Written and originally posted April 24, 1999
By Becky
Several years ago, when my oldest daughter was just learning how to ride a bike, a frightening and unusual accident was prevented by the quick action of her father. As she was struggling to peddle and steer the bike, a driverless car rolled slowly down the street directly toward her. Imagine her surprise when she glanced up to see this empty car, gaining speed as it came down the hill, headed straight for her. Fortunately, her father saw what was about to take place and rushed forward in time to push her to safety. Afterward, while our hearts were still pounding, the inevitable "what if" questions came to mind: "What if he hadn't been close enough to save her," "What if he hadn't been outside with her". But most of all, we were relieved that she was safe and had lived to ride again.
Tuesday afternoon, we had a similar experience. After returning from a weekend trip in the mountains, we were puzzled by phone messages from relatives who had called to see if we were okay. Then there was a message from my husband's lieutenant telling him to be prepared to assist in an emergency situation (he's a local deputy sheriff). We had no idea what was going on, so we turned on the news. Reports were coming in that an area high school was under attack. We listened in shock when we heard that it was Columbine High School. We live less than two miles away from that school.
A frightening realization set in. My daughter, who is now 16 and a junior, would have been in that school if it hadn't been for a decision we had made five years ago. When she was about to enter the seventh grade, we decided that public school was no longer a safe environment for her or her siblings. We pulled them all out of public school and began homeschooling them. We had many reasons for doing this, but school violence was one of the main reasons (we were not Christians at the time).
As the terrible details began to unfold, I went to my daughter and hugged her as though I would never let go. I felt as though she had barely escaped this tragedy. Why? Because so many times, when I first began homeschooling, I had thought maybe I was overreacting. So many times I had been ridiculed for my decision. So many times I had doubted my ability to teach her and had considered sending her back to school. Now, I can't help but to ask, "What if I had given in to my reservations?" "What if I had given in to social pressure?" "What if I had given in to self doubt?"
Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that we made the right decision. Now it is painfully clear. My entire community is filled with grief and despair over this tragedy. My heart goes out to all those parents who are on the other side of these "what if" questions. The public school system reminds me of that driverless car, hurtling out of control. For most parents, there is still time. It is not to late to push your kids out of its path before they, too, become its victims.
I’ll admit I was very emotional at the time that I wrote the article. It is hard to put into words how you feel when you discover that you have just escaped one of your worst nightmares.
The truth is, though, there have been so many positive outcomes from our original decision to homeschool that even I probably don’t realize what some of them are. Our children have been spared the exposure to drug abuse, under-age drinking, smoking, pregnancy, profanity, etc., etc.
I’m so proud of my kids, and so close to them. There was a time when I began to feel estranged from my oldest daughter. It seemed as though we clashed with one another nearly every day. Shortly after I began homeschooling her, I began to notice that things were changing. One day, while standing in line at Burger King, I noticed she was looking at me with a beautiful smile on her face. Suddenly she said to me, “Mom, you’re the greatest person I know.” I can’t begin to describe what that felt like!
It has not always been easy, it has not always been fun – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. There is no way to measure the long-term advantages my children have gained by being at home with each other and with us.
In Christ,
Becky
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Galatians 5:13-15
Our children have been spared the exposure to drug abuse, under-age drinking, smoking, pregnancy, profanity, etc., etc.
You mean you are going to let your children miss out on all those great social skills????
You continue…
Quote:
One day, while standing in line at Burger King, I noticed she was looking at me with a beautiful smile on her face. Suddenly she said to me, “Mom, you’re the greatest person I know.”
I thought you said your kids were smart?
Just kidding!
Actually you are one of the greatest persons I know as well!
You said, "You mean you are going to let your children miss out on all those great social skills???"
I can't tell you how many people have given us a hard time about the social issues. Usually they bring up Prom Night. I just have to laugh, because even though I did attend public school, I never went to Prom. Not once have ever I felt as though I “missed out on something”.
Quote:
You said “I thought you said your kids were smart?”
With all due respect, do you no longer go to the post office, because of Post Office violence?
"If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth,
rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else,
you see that we are the earth,
we are the consciousness of the earth.
These are the eyes of the Earth.
And this is the voice of the earth."
I have pondered home schooling for my future kid(s) ever since I was serving my 12 year sentance in pullik skool (and I never miss not going to prom either ). Unfortunatly I caved and send her to a Christian School. Where by the age of 7 she has learned about Mardi Gras, Candlemas, and Diwali.
To me, "socialization skills" were about the only arguement against homeschooling that held any merit to me. But, it is obvious to me, pullik skool is *not* the place, (and I am beginging to understand the same holds true for the private Christian school my daughter attends), to learn: respect, kindness, helpfulness, or develop a good attitude.
Since this is something you do successfully, could you please point me to some resources I might use to get me on the road to homeschooling our Blessing?
Good point beanie, I wonder how many of those postal workers who murder are pullik skool grads? You know, I would love to see some stats about the backgrounds of criminal's educational type. I certainly wouldn't take my daughter to get stamps at the post office if as many kids were losing their lives as at pullik skools.
ninevah - I think you missed my point because of your personal beef against public schools. My point was, if you want to insulate your child from everything, you might as well lock them up in a tower. I was exposed to drug abuse, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, etc., in public school, but I learned vicariously what not to do. I was exposed to things, and made decisions, seeing the results of those who chose to do them.
I went to a private school the first 2 years of college, and then to a state U my last years. The state U was much better in terms of education and atmosphere, and prepared me much better for adult life.
I think a lot of it is personal opinion, and your personal experience. I had a good public school education. Many of the teachers changed my life. We didn't wear school uniforms, and some people were popular because they wore expensive clothes. A lot like people wearing Armani suits now. There was a division between the classes, rich and poor, just as there is now. There was cruelty among popular and unpopular, the same as I see now. And as awful as that sounds, I learned how to deal with it, and it made my life better. And no one was ever shot.
"If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth,
rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else,
you see that we are the earth,
we are the consciousness of the earth.
These are the eyes of the Earth.
And this is the voice of the earth."
I went to 2 pullik skools. One was a AirforceBrat/Farmer pullik skool (talk about colliding classes), and the other was a city pullik skool. Both stank. I learned the most important lesson in my life at pullik skool, that being: Peer Pressure only exists *inside* of that Godless institution. No one was ever shot in the skools I attended either, does that mean I should take that chance with my daughter? Becky could have, thank Jesus she didn't
So you understand that bullies are bullies no matter what. Why do you think it has gotten worse instead of better, even with all the millions of dollars and "be nice" programs dumped into it?
In public school, i learned to take a concept, and then try to apply it in other ways.
In church, there were wealthy people who showed up in name brand clothes. They had that nose-in-the-air attitude, walking in, and i once overheard a woman talking smack about the family that sat near the back in their jeans. I think god cares more that you are there, and what's in your heart, that what's on your body. That family was much poorer than those they ridiculed.
I see it everywhere. As I said, I learned from it.
I'm sorry your experience was bad, ninevah, but I don't think that makes all public schools bad. My was challenging, and i learned a lot about myself and other people.
Violence happens everywhere. Should you allow your child to go to McDonalds? Do you remember the guy that opened fire there? Or allow your child to go on an airplane, for fear that it will be flown into a building? Or travel in a car, since 1000s of people die everyday in car accidents? Where is a truly "safe" place, except living in a yert?
"If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth,
rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else,
you see that we are the earth,
we are the consciousness of the earth.
These are the eyes of the Earth.
And this is the voice of the earth."
I'm a pretty good example of a sentient thinking person who has graduated from public schooling. I might be dense, but I'm not dumb.
Becky, I can hear you on the fear. I have a lot of family in Colorado...they could have easily wound up at Columbine.
On a happier note, I have a very good friend now (who is currently obsessed with "Lord of the Rings") who went to Columbine and was there the day of the shootings. I'm happy that he wasn't hurt. He's a very very sweet guy.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
You said, “With all due respect, do you no longer go to the post office, because of Post Office violence?”
Well, I don’t work at one, that’s for sure. LOL.
The point is that we made and lived with a difficult decision that eventually spared our family immense tragedy. As I mentioned, school violence was only one of the reasons we took our kids out of school.
Even though I had fears concerning school violence, I realized that the chances of something actually happening were quite remote. But how thankful I now am that we held up against all the pressure we were under from well meaning friends and relatives.
As far as the socialization skill are concerned, I must tell you that my two youngest children, the ones who spent the least time in public schools, are much more comfortable around other people than my two older children. They are far less shy than my older girls and they have lots of friends around the neighborhood. (Our house has become “the place to be” for many of the neighborhood children.) It could just be personality type - we may never know for sure.
When we first started homeschooling, we really didn’t know where to start. My husband knew someone from work whose wife was homeschooling their children, so we met with her. She lent us a pile of books and introduced us to a local homeschool newsletter called CHEC (Christian Home Educators of Colorado) http://www.chec.org/cgi-bin/chec.pl?/index.xml
From the newsletter, I learned of a certified teacher who did homeschool consultations. We met with her and she gave us lots of advice to get us started. Although we took a lot of her advice, we eventually developed our own style that fits well with our schedule.
We have settled into a comfortable routine using mostly A Beka books. We also use Saxon Math and some Modern Curriculum Press. If you want specifics, let me know.
One system we have also used is the Switched on School House computer program from Alpha Omega. When we first tried this, it was a brand new program and there were things that I didn’t like about it. I have since heard that the system has been greatly improved. One of my nephews and two of my nieces are currently using this system and they are all doing very well. It automatically plans all of the lessons for you and is self grading.
I took this quiz last fall after having already homeschooled for eight years and I found that the results matched quite well with our style of homeschooling. Perhaps it will give you some insight as to what would work best for you and your family. In the meantime, here are some links to helpful resources:
I, too, graduated from a public school as well as a public university. I know first hand what it is like to receive this kind of education. When I reflect on my own personal experience with the public school system, I am more thankful than ever that my children are no longer a part of it.
February 14th, 2002, 04:24 PM
Knight -
February 14th, 2002, 10:43 PM
Projill, -
February 18th, 2002, 05:02 PM
Linear Mode
