You can find this email listed at:
http://www.nbcnco.com/main/why.htm
The home page is here:
http://www.nbcnco.com/
It's also at:
http://rage4truth.mindsay.com/dear_god_why_didnt_you_save_the_school_children.mws
There are several additional sites that seem to have picked up the list and have it
on their websites....so, it may be hard to find out who originally created it since
many are using it for various reasons.
The interesting thing to note is that the information in the email is not
true...for example, the letter that you have received asks "why didn't you save the
children at....Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99."
My son was a student at Fort Gibson that day---when one of the students on campus
(Seth Trickey--a classmate of my son's at the time) fired on random students while
they assembled outside before school started that cold December morning. None of
the children died during this shooting. Three were shot--one was seriously injured
but all survived. Seth (the trigger-man) has spent all of his junior high and high
school years in a juvenile detention center and will be released (if not already
released) soon. My son sat next to Seth in two of classes when he was an eighth
grader. We moved two months after the shooting but have kept up Seth's situation
(out of curiosity).
So, with all emails (and websites), checking the facts is important. In this case,
I guess "God DID save the children at Fort Gibson"....unfortunately, someone wanted
to sensationalize the event (along with others) in an email or on a website.
Seth's problems started at home...not at school. His parents were in the middle of
a divorce--he came from a upper-middle class family and had the world at his
fingertips. I understand what the letter is trying to advocate, but in this case,
Fort Gibson is a small town that is VERY good about keeping involved with their
children and the families. The town rallied around all of the children, including
Seth. Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people and schools can't be the
answer to all problems relating to the family or family problems. It goes back to
adult responsibility--- parents who will become involved in their childrens' lives
and who will help meet their childrens' needs first rather than focusing on their
own selfish needs. Seth was just lost in turmoil that he could not control and no
one at home was adult enough to help meet his needs at a time when he was angry and
lost in uncertainty. The school was superb in their reaction to the situation,
their care for the students both before and after the event, and their behavior
afterwards in creating programs for parents to help them cope with problems at home
or with their children. Luckily, Seth now has a second chance and no lives were
lost because of his mistakes.
Just thought I'd help with the facts.....
~Shonda
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
US / Technology Librarian
Fort Worth Country Day School
Fort Worth, TX
"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and suddenly you are doing
the impossible."
~St. Francis of Assisi
sbrisco@fwcds.org
http://www.fwcds.org/campus/libraries/default.asp
>>> Janice Kowalski-Kelly <pani@OLM1.COM> 12/28/05 8:36 AM >>>
Hello,
I would greatly appreciate it if someone could identify the author of this
letter I received in an e-mail? Thanks so much & here's the letter:
Dear God:
Why didn't you save the school children at ?.
Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96
Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamps, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99
Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99
Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99
Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee, California 3/5/01 and
El Cajon, California 3/22/01?
Sincerely,
Concerned Student
-----------------------------------------------------
Reply:
Dear Concerned Student:
I am not allowed in schools.
Sincerely,
God
----------------------------------------------------------
How did this get started?...
-----------------
Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained
she
didn't want any prayer in our schools.
And we said, OK...
------------------
Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the
Bible that
says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors as
yourself,"
And we said, OK...
-----------------
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
misbehaved
because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their
self-esteem.
And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we
won't spank
them anymore.
------------------
Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our
children
when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty
member in
this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want
any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued.
And we accepted their reasoning...
------------------
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they
want, and
they won't even have to tell their parents.
And we said, that's a grand idea...
------------------
Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
they're
going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they
want, so they
can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents
they
got them at school.
And we said, that's another great idea...
------------------
Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what
we do in
private as long as we do our jobs.
And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, including the
President, does in
private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good....
------------------
And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published
pictures
of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on
the Internet.
! And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....
------------------
And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies
that
promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that
encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...
And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect,
and nobody
takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead...
------------------
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why
they don't
know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers,
classmates or even themselves.
------------------
Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could
figure it
out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...
"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"
Janice L. Kowalski-Kelly, LMS
Cleveland Hill Elementary School
Home of the Eagles
---
This has been scanned by the onlinemedia.net Barracuda Spam/Virus Firewall
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
* LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
* LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LM_NET
Mailing List Home