Monday, December 10, 2007

Homeschooler gone bad story

I was saddened to find out the shooter in the recent attack a church and missionary training center was "home-schooled by his family and raised in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household." Unfortunately, homeschoolers are not magically protected from mental illness or character defects.


Colo. Church Gunman Had Been Kicked Out

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The gunman believed to have killed four people at a megachurch and a missionary training school had been thrown out of the school about three years ago and had been sending the place hate mail, police said in court papers Monday.

The gunman was identified as Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled by his family and raised in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household. Murray's father is a neurologist and a leading multiple-sclerosis researcher.



A neighbor, Cody Askeland, 19, said the brothers were home-schooled, describing the whole family as "very, very religious."


It will be interesting to see what the press makes of his religious-homeschool upbringing.


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8 comments:

Idaho Dad said...

Sounds like this kid would have been troubled no matter where he received his education.

Seems like the media is quick to point out that a bad kid is homeschooled, but doesn't make any connection between some other bad kid and the public school they attended.

I actually know people who will read this story and say, "Yup, that homeschooling just makes kids stir-crazy."

Anonymous said...

So this kids was homeschooled the last THREE years of his education. What about the other 10? He was a product of the public school system. So if he was in a school setting the majority of his life....mmmm......Yup, that public schooling just makes kids stir-crazy.

Janine Cate said...

>So this kids was homeschooled the last THREE years of his education.

That wasn't mentioned in the article I read. Does anyone have a link to that info?

Consent of the Governed said...

I think his condition had more to do with being on dangerous psychotropic medication than it does the manner in which he was educated.

Just about every shooter in recent memory has been on some sort of psychotropic meds, and that is what the media ought to be reporting about.

Anonymous said...

I think mrs. dani is perhaps confusing the information. Even if it were true, I think it is fully irrelevant to the case...it would only be relevant to looking at how the media reports things.

All I can find says there was no record of school attendance in his district and that he was removed from the missionary training program three years ago...for unspecified issues which seem to perhaps be indicative of mental health issues.

Dana
Principled Discovery

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! I had heard about the shooting through a "breaking News" story but had not followed up on it. It;s completely unfortunate that this has happened at all...regardless of where the child was educated. It is irritating that the media is quick to report that he was homeschooled though...I'll have to go check the news...I can't believe I'm this behind! lol!

Jenny-up the hill
Up the Hill Gang

Steve said...

I think it's also important to note that both of the Works sisters, Murray's victims in Colorado Springs, were also homeschooled. It's a horrible tragedy, but here's what I wrote about the shootings and the role God and homeschooling likely had in it.

Janine Cate said...

Thanks for all the comments and the link.

I suspect that, as Judy Aron speculated, psychotropic drugs played a part in this tragedy.

I admit that I would like to know what his home life was like, what kind of homeschooling style they used and the religious dogma they embraced. I don't think we can trust the media to report those details without bias.

Did factors such as school, homeschool, family and church play a part? Probably, but from the little information available, it would be hard to draw any conclusions.