OK - What I'm about to say might make some people angry, but I'm just writing from my own experiences in my own community.
I live in an area with ALOT of homeschooling going on. The vast majority of people who homeschool are great folks, and I even have a cousin who homeschools because she thought her son wasn't getting enough attention at school.
More power to anyone who has the patience to do it! Homeschooling also works well in helping kids get great scholarships for college, due to the fact that they have more time to work on extra projects, write essays, etc.
But there is a flip side to the whole scenario, and I think this case is a textbook example.
Lots of people homeschool so their children will be "sheltered" from other "types" of children. There is prejudice involved, and sometimes fear of their children "losing their religion" by going to public schools.
I don't think you can say this happened to a "traditional" family. My kids have a traditional family - two parents, three kids, and a stay-at-home Mom. But my kids aren't isolated from the rabble of society, and I wouldn't want them to be.
And the sad truth is that many homeschoolers are isolated from normal teenage interactions. Often the parents want it that way, so they can stay in control.
That is one reason this beautiful girl knew just one or two boys. The very first report I read about this case talked of a Homeschooling "Network." I'm familiar with how that works: there might be one parent who wants to teach history and has had good results with passing the state tests on that subject. So the homeschoolers meet at that person's house. They also network for fieldtrips, musical things or plays, math tutorials, etc.
Basically, homeschoolers don't always mix with people in their own neighborhoods. I know of two or three families within walking distance of my home who are homeschool families. They allow their children only very limited contact with other children - it's almost abusive, but it's legal. They might let their children play at another kids house, maybe once a month, and I'm not exaggerating.
I believe these kids were not living a normal life.
It may come out that this young sociopath who shot the parents has had troubles since he was young - perhaps that factored into why they parents decided to homeschool him in the first place. I think this boy had been indoctrinated to be "us against them," and hence, that is why his family had 54 weapons in their home. What were they expecting? A SWAT team attack at any moment? :doh:
I believe the parents thought they were in control of the girl's life, too, yet they weren't watching her Internet Activities, were they? Why shelter a child all her life, but let her post her picture on the Internet? It astonishes me!
I'm not blaming the victims for their deaths, I assure you. It sounds as if they thought they could reason with this boy. But the evil in him didn't just rise up all of a sudden - the reports of his film-making activities, planning violent raids and "patrols," dark clothes and maps, and his lying to more than one girl in the name of God, all point to a kid who had way, way too much time on his hands. He had learned to be a good little hypocrite, and use his "church speak" to gain the trust of young girls.
Why did the girl follow him down the road? And why was he more important to her than her parents and siblings? I have no idea, but it shows a certain obsession, doesn't it? My gosh - what next in this story?
