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HEM SUPPORT GROUP
NEWS - April 2005
~APRIL'S HIGHLIGHT
~ISSUES TO WATCH
~COMMUNITY SERVICE
~WEB
UPDATES
~HEM RESOURCES AND MORE
Return to Index
April's highlighted
support group is Upstate Homeschoolers Unlimited.
Upstate Homeschoolers Unlimited (UHU) web page(
www.teach-at-home.com/hso/?group=UHU )
describes the group as "an inclusive homeschool
group in the Greenville, SC area that meets for educational
activities, socialization, and support. UHU is a diverse
group of families with varying homeschooling styles,
parenting styles, political philosophies, religious
beliefs and non-beliefs. UHU meets weekly for park days
and field trips."
On February 16th, 2005,
at one of their weekly Simpsonville Park gatherings,
a plain-clothes police officer rushed at the group after
being dispatched there due to a phone call reporting
that someone within the group had a knife. Since his
badge was not visible, and he did not immediately identify
himself as the police, one Mother put herself between
the agitated man and the young man the stranger was
addressing about the small sheath knife. She and
the young man with the knife were arrested. It's
a horrific tale and thankfully, all charges were dropped
against them and the officer was fired. You can
read the entire report at another site they set up for
this purpose at: www.uhucrew.org/index.html
I wanted to follow
up with Upstate Homeschoolers United to find out how
everyone is doing now, to learn more about the arrest
situation and their group. Priscilla Adams, co-leader
of UHU, kindly agreed to grant this interview.
Mary: First
of all, I am so glad that the young man and the woman
arrested have had all charges dropped against them.
I am sure they were relieved, but all of you must still
be greatly affected by this ordeal. How is the
group? How are the two who were arrested?
Priscilla: I think
that the group is actually stronger than ever. We really
pulled together when this happened, and I'm not just
speaking of the families who were there that day. The
concern and support from the ones fortunate enough to
not be present has been wonderful as well. Some of the
children who were there don't want to go back to that
park, and people have been great at planning other places
to go and things to do. UHU is truly showing itself
to be a support group.
As for the ones who
were arrested, the teenaged boy has been suffering from
nagging headaches, something he's never had to deal
with before. His mom, Dena Bailey, said that he feels
less secure than he used to. She said of herself, "I
have trouble letting him out of my sight. Where before
I knew he was 16, could be on his own in a public place,
was safe with our friends, now I feel the need to be
within sight of him at all times. For his sake as well
as mine I try to overcome this when we are out and am
making an attempt to go each week to the park, but it
is very difficult."
The woman who was arrested,
Kelsey Roberts, said that she is recovering but still
doesn't sleep well, nor does her son. Loud noises
make her cringe and she has trouble concentrating. Her
son has become quite protective and is still hesitant
to let her out of his sight. He doesn't feel safe
at the park at this point so he is reluctant to go even
to a different park.
Mary: I read that the
woman that was arrested was pushed by the officer and
fell to the concrete while holding a baby. Is
this true? Are they both all right?
Priscilla: No, she
didn't fall to the concrete. He did push her very hard
and she staggered backwards to a low concrete wall.
She and the baby are physically fine.
Mary: There were seven
Mothers and twelve children present when this incident
occurred. Have they been able to resolve that
this was an act done by one individual and certainly
not all police officers will pursue them in this way?
Beyond letting the officer go, has the Simpsonville
Police Department done anything to help?
Priscilla: The Chief
of Police wants to come talk to our group, along with
a uniformed officer, to reassure the kids that the police
not all like the one that scared them. Most of the children
would probably be all right with that, but several are
not ready. They don't want to be near any policeman
at all at this point. So I guess the answer to your
first question is no, not all of the children have resolved
that this happened because of just one policeman acting
badly and irresponsibly.
Mary: Before the charges
were dropped, you set up a donation page to help offset
the legal expenses, which you have since dropped until
there is a good idea of what those costs will be. Did
you have a good response from that request?
Priscilla: We
only had the donation link open for two days and we
received almost $500 in that time, plus we received
a few checks in the mail. People were so generous and
so kind. We think we've collected enough to cover the
expenses, but we haven't seen the bills yet.
Mary: Homeschoolers
are known for knowing their rights and letting others
know they know them. This situation took
this truth beyond knowing homeschooling laws and certainly
brings to light the importance of knowing our rights
in all walks of life. Do you feel this was a one in
a million incident?
Priscilla: I asked
this question of the woman who was arrested. Kelsey
answered that though it was perhaps unusual in the support
we gave each other and that we received from people
around the country, it was maybe not unusual in the
sense of not knowing our rights. She was strongly encouraged
by the police to accept pretrial intervention, which
would have placed her in a situation much like parole.
She would not have had an opportunity to tell her side
of the story to a judge or jury if she'd accepted it.
She said that had she let fear take over, she might
have accepted the punishment rather than risk a court
proceeding. Knowing that she was not alone in her belief
that the arrests were unjust helped her to stand firm
in her decision to fight the charges.
Dena, the mother of
the teenager involved, also had some thoughts about
this. She said that at first she might have felt that
it was a one in a million incident but that now she
is aware of more situations like it. She said that most
of the time people pay the fines and hope the situation
just goes away. In this case, with the way the charges
were protested and fought against, and with the support
and emails from so many people, the situation was made
to go away. You're right, Mary, that we really do need
to know our rights. We also need to be prepared to fight
for them.
Mary: Is there a S.C.
law concerning carrying a sheath knife on one's belt?
If not, was there a school rule here that a teacher
applied to a young person outside of the system because
they co-existed that day?
Priscilla: This issue
is still not clear to me. There is a definition in the
state laws concerning weapons, and knives with blades
over two inches long are listed in the definition (the
knife in question had a blade almost three inches long).
However, the definition also lists "any other type
of device or object which may be used to inflict bodily
injury or death" which could surely include a wide
variety of everyday objects. There is only this definition
that seems to fit this particular situation, and a definition
is not a law. There is a state law against carrying
a gun on public property, but there are no laws against
carrying knives on public property that I can find.
There is a law against carrying knives with blades longer
than two inches on school property, but we were not
on school property, so maybe as you suggested a teacher
applied a school law to a situation outside of the school.
I don't see anything in the actual laws to convince
me that a law was broken, unless carrying something
that fits the definition of a weapon is in itself against
the law. That seems doubtful to me, since we mothers
had sometimes had much bigger knives in the picnic shelter,
and I can't imagine one of us being arrested for having
something large enough to cut a melon! The boy was charged
with carrying a concealed weapon, and maybe that's the
only thing he could have been charged with just for
having the knife on his person. Since the weapon was
not concealed and was plainly visible on his belt, that
charge had to be dropped.
Mary: Your group has
met weekly for five years and has grown to over 83 families.
How did the group start?
Priscilla: Dena Bailey
and I were friends, and we had been homeschooling our
sons for a few years. We wanted our boys to have more
opportunities to play with friends and to meet new friends.
We hadn't found any inclusive groups in the area,
and this was important to both of us since we wanted
a group where all types of homeschooling families would
be welcome. Since there wasn't such a group around,
we decided to start one ourselves. It's been a wonderful
experience (except for February 16!). Many of us, parents
and kids alike, have found the best friends we've ever
had through UHU.
Mary: Does UHU offer
information for families new to homeschooling?
Priscilla: Yes, but
only in an informal way. We answer any questions people
have about homeschooling, try to direct them to the
resources they might need, and encourage them to come
meet with us so they can talk to a variety of homeschooling
parents and children.
Mary: What advice would
you offer to others that you have learned from the Feb.
16th incident?
Priscilla: My advice
would be to fight back against wrongs, stick together
as a group, and take the issue public! This didn't seem
like enough of an answer, so I asked Dena, as the mother
of the boy arrested, what she had learned. Here's what
she had to say:
Dena: "What we
learned?loads of things, like not to carry a knife anywhere
unless it is only big enough to clean your nails! I
learned that what I always thought about UHU was correct:
that they are a family, that when I walk away my child
is still with family and they will put themselves in
harm's way to protect him. I learned that when you are
in the right there are still people who will stand up
and stand with you and speak their minds, even against
the system. I learned that the power of the pen/computer/email
is very strong. I always knew that words carried lots
of power, and that you could accomplish a lot with them,
but to experience it was an awesome thing. Just for
the record I would rather be on the helping end and
not the receiving end next time! I learned that in a
few brief minutes your world can change. Like a snow
globe your world can be picked up and shaken and then
be set down a bit off its axis just to see what will
happen. I learned that it is in your time of need that
you see with clear vision who your friends are, who
is willing to move mountains for you, and who will turn
their back and walk away. There are those who read or
saw our story and thought how horrible, but never did
anything else. Then there were those who saw and read
and typed letters, in the hopes that they could make
a difference. I know I see a lot and read a lot and
think how I feel so bad for those people. I now don't
want to be the person that sits back feeling bad for
someone. I want to be one of the people out there doing
something about what is wrong; I want to make a difference.
There were those who saw this as something horrible
but not life or death. They were right; it wasn't life
or death, but it was life altering. Our lives will never
be the same. In some ways we will never feel as secure,
as safe, as trusting, and in other ways we have learned
to rely on others to help hold us up."
Priscilla: To that
I'd only add my complete agreement!
Mary: Thank you Priscilla
and to all the Upstate Homeschoolers Unlimited who were
willing to share this story. It was an unfortunate
incident, but I am releived to hear that the officer
in question was relieved of his duties. I know
I have been inspired to learn more about my local and
state laws, my rights and what I should do if I were
in the same situation. What a wonderful group
of friends and extended family you have within UHU.
I do hope that the Chief of Police will
be able to come talk to your group soon to give the
children a better view of the department. I am
sure that all the HEM Support Group News readers join
me in wishing each of you peace for ALL future outings
and that those who were hurt will be able to heal and
to move forward and away from this incident.
ISSUES TO WATCH
After reading all that
happened to the S.C. group, I realized that I was not
100% sure of what I should do if I were in the same
situation, so I began investigating. The most
informative site was the ACLU, but I also learned a
great deal from many different police departments, the
NRA and more. The link for the information the
ACLU offers is here: www.aclu.org/PolicePractices/PolicePractices.cfm?ID=9609&c=25
President Dwight D.
Eisenhower once said: "Politics ought to be the
part-time profession of every citizen who would protect
the rights and privileges of free people and who would
preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage."
I have to say that I agree. If we wish to maintain
our rights and privileges, we must be aware of those
rights and the responsibilities that go with them, but
where do we begin? Probably at our own local city
or town hall. What are the laws that govern our
cities? Is there a curfew? There is a new AHA-Focus-Curfews
blog and it states: "As homeschooling families,
we need to be informed about curfew laws and track changes
to curfew laws in our towns." http://aha.typepad.com/curfews
I recommend visiting this new blog and understanding
why the curfew issue affects all citizens and measures
we can take to protect our rights.
We should also know
and understand our state laws. The National Conference
of State Legislator's site ( www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm
) provides a searchable database of information they
have gathered from the websites of the fifty state legislatures.
It allows you to select specific information such as
bills, statutes, constitutions and other issues.
I live in a city where
paintball gun use is illegal. The neighboring
township that bears the same name considers paintball
gun use legal. Those participating legally
in the paintball sport in the township need to be aware
that they could be abiding by the law one minute and
breaking it the next after taking a few steps out of
the township and within the city limits. These
seem to be such simple issues, but as Eisenhower said,
it is a part-time profession to keep up with all the
issues that surround our rights. It certainly
is worth the time it takes to do so.
Community Service
H.E.A.R.T. In April,
many homeschoolers from throughout the country will
be making handmade blankets to contribute to local charities,
including Project Linus ("security" blankets
for critically ill children) and Warm Up America. This
is an all INCLUSIVE effort ? which hopes to encompass
a very large and diverse representation of homeschoolers.
Non-homeschooling members of the community are also
invited and encouraged to participate. You do not need
to know how to sew or knit or crochet in order to participate
in this effort. This community service outreach is being
coordinated by H.E.A.R.T.S. (Homeschoolers: Educating,
Assisting, & Reaching-out Through Service) and presents
a great opportunity for children to participate in community
service. If you would like more information please visit
the website: www.h-e-a-r-t.s.org/HandmadeBlankets.html
or email: MichelePulis@h-e-a-r-t-s.org
CONFERENCES
HEM's New Homeschool
Conference Calendar will help you find a homeschool
conference to attend - or you can send them the
information to list your group's conference!
Here are some of the
recent listings of upcoming conferences.
~Rethinking Education
Conference 2005
~Connecticut: Home Educators
Fair
~Massachusetts: 2005 Conference Home
~Wisconsin:
WPA's 22nd Annual Home Education Conference
~Washington:
WHO 20th Annual State Convention
~California:
2005 HSC Home=Education Conference
Visit HEM's Conference
Calendar at http://hem.blogs.com/calendar
to find out all the details!
WEB UPDATES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
AND RESOURCES
HEM's News and Commentary
HEM's Homeschool Conference
Calendar
AHA Focus: Curfews
Homeschooling Support
Groups & Organizations
Universal Preschool
asks:
"How do children
really learn best?"
"Drilling
Academics or Imaginative Play?"
"Preschool
or a nurturing home life?"
"Parents,
not the government, should decide."
"What's UP?"
Find out more at Diane Keith's new informative site:
www.universalpreschool.com/
Military Homeschooler
Bulletin #41 CT
Sues Over No Child Left Behind
Home School Dads
Geared specifically
for the fathers who homeschool. Get the latest homeschooling
news, articles, organizations, events, Homeschool
Mall, and much, much more! URL: www.homeschooldads.com
Bright Kids at Home
Homeschooler author,
speaker, and magazine columnist David Albert will
be on a speaking tour of Southern California May 10th
thru 15th. He is the author of Homeschooling and the
Voyage of Self-Discovery, And the Skylark Sings with
Me: Adventures in Homeschooling and Community-Based
Education, and the forthcoming "Have Fun, Learn
Stuff. Grow", "Homeschooling and the
Curriculum of Love", and writes the columns "What
Really Matters" in The Link and "My Word!"
in Home Education Magazine.
Times and topics will
be different at each location. For more information,
write or call the local contacts:Tuesday, May 10th,
Afternoon: Santa Clarita. Contact Vicky Frangos, live2learninscv@yahoo.com
, 661 513-9966, Tuesday, May 10th, Evening: Thousand
Oaks/Conejo Valley. Contact Sue Jackson, sudajaka@prodigy.net
, 818 707 3019, Wednesday, May 11: Monrovia. Contact
Martin & Carolyn Forte, EIEinformation@aol.com
, 616 821-0025, Thursday, May 12: Huntington Beach.
Contact Bequi Howarth, bequi@queenelvis.com
, 714 423-5935, Friday: May 13th: Temecula. Contact
Joana Johnson, johnsonjoana@hotmail.com
, 951 506-2623, Saturday, May 14th, San Diego. Contact
Tiffany Monticino, califmom@aol.com
, 619 821-0025
HEM RESOURCES and
MORE
AHA Weblogs Blog
AHA Homeschool Resources
Guide
HEM's News and Commentary
HEM's Online Newsletter
Be sure to bookmark
Home Education Magazine's Support Group page, which
can be accessed at: www.homeedmag.com/wlcm_groups.html
Listing your group
on the HEM Support Group web pages is a free service
provided by Home Education Magazine. To list your group,
visit the form at www.homeedmag.com/groups2.html
Have a wonderful
month!
Mary Nix
Email
HEM's
Support Group Liaison
www.homeedmag.com/wlcm_groups.html
Subscribe to HEM SUPPORT
GROUP NEWS here: www.homeedmag.com/news/
This service is available
free. Read the newsletter at: www.homeedmag.com/groups/groupnews.html
© 2005 Home Education
Magazine (All rights reserved). This newsletter is provided
as a free service of Home Education Magazine. Readers
are encouraged to forward this newsletter in its entirety,
including headers and footers, to others who might also
find its contents helpful.
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