Nanci Kuykendall

>> You know, at least a part of me is pulling for the
>>kids. The older sister is 16, not exactly a baby
>>and they are obviously able to take care of
>>themselves. Eiraul >>

>But letting 20 some dogs go on someone is not
>acceptable conduct. they were also reportedly eating
>lilly pads (or something) and pond water soup. These
>people need help.
> NICKI~

I am with Nicki. These kids are not living in a
rustic homestead, nor are they living off the grid.
the had their power and water shut off some time ago
for failure to pay. Their home is a standard ranch
style home and they are not equipped with alternatives
for power, etc. The children are subsisting on pond
water soup, as Nicki recounted, while their dogs are
taking down MOOSE! Their dogs also have attacked at
least one innocent person who was walking NEAR their
property who was severly injured, requiring at least
17 stitches.

These kids have been raised to hate and fear
authority, know how to handle guns, and have a pack of
27 wild dogs. This is not a healthy situation. Their
mother was taken in because she is severely mentally
unbalanced and unstable and since the death of their
father, the conditions for the children had severely
deteriorated. That is saying a lot about her state of
mind, when it was barely a week since he died. The
fact that the 19 year old daughter is working WITH the
police to help get her siblings out says something to
me about what the conditions in the home might be
like.

Nanci K.



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35
a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

Jenni Dreams

All this reminds me of a great book, Into The Forest
that Grace Lewellyn listed as a good read. (she always
suggests good books imo ;-)

Jenni

--- Nanci Kuykendall <aisliin@...> wrote:
> >> You know, at least a part of me is pulling for
> the
> >>kids. The older sister is 16, not exactly a baby
> >>and they are obviously able to take care of
> >>themselves. Eiraul >>
>
> >But letting 20 some dogs go on someone is not
> >acceptable conduct. they were also reportedly
> eating
> >lilly pads (or something) and pond water soup.
> These
> >people need help.
> > NICKI~
>
> I am with Nicki. These kids are not living in a
> rustic homestead, nor are they living off the grid.
> the had their power and water shut off some time ago
> for failure to pay. Their home is a standard ranch
> style home and they are not equipped with
> alternatives
> for power, etc. The children are subsisting on pond
> water soup, as Nicki recounted, while their dogs are
> taking down MOOSE! Their dogs also have attacked at
> least one innocent person who was walking NEAR their
> property who was severly injured, requiring at least
> 17 stitches.
>
> These kids have been raised to hate and fear
> authority, know how to handle guns, and have a pack
> of
> 27 wild dogs. This is not a healthy situation.
> Their
> mother was taken in because she is severely mentally
> unbalanced and unstable and since the death of their
> father, the conditions for the children had severely
> deteriorated. That is saying a lot about her state
> of
> mind, when it was barely a week since he died. The
> fact that the 19 year old daughter is working WITH
> the
> police to help get her siblings out says something
> to
> me about what the conditions in the home might be
> like.
>
> Nanci K.
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail -
> only $35
> a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
>


=====
JenniD.

Vicki A. Dennis

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nanci Kuykendall" <aisliin@...>
> the had their power and water shut off some time ago
> for failure to pay.

But power had been back on for quite some time before the mother was arrested
according to power company. I *think* that water availability problem is
with their own pump----not piped in city/county utilities water. The focus on
no electricity was similar to "urban legend".

> least one innocent person who was walking NEAR their
> property who was severly injured, requiring at least
> 17 stitches.

Let's not get carried away with how to define severe. Unless on the face or
genitals, 17 stitches not exactly an impressive wound. An injury yes, but
severe is when those dogs in a California building mauled a woman.

Vicki

Dennis/Laurie Brown

I agree that this is not a healthy situation. But I'm also not convinced
that there was dire enough immediate need to warrant police interference to
'offer' 'help' that was not wanted. If the police wanted to impound
dangerous dogs who are loose as a means of protecting the public, for
instance, that's one thing. But to show up with guns and badges,
potentially forcing entrance in order to drag away the children in order to
'offer assistance' is probably beyond warranted.

I was pleased to note that the police department seems to have gone out of
their way to enlist the assistance of family friends, rather than resort
directly to force. Wish I felt confident that all police officers would
react in such reasonable fashion. I hope that prosecuting attorneys or any
other officials looking into this matter really think about what a threat
these officials represented to these children who were probably terrified
beyond anything they had previously experienced. Whether others see this as
a threat or not, these children obviously considered the threat worse than
their circumstances.

I don't have all the answers. I can only say that having the police
forcefully remove me from my home when I was the 16 yr old left in charge of
her siblings was an extremely dramatic event in my life. I still feel the
effects and have occasions stemming from this incident when I have to make a
very conscious decision to act rather than react. It certainly didn't help
me or my family any.

Background story...my mother would stay out for days with her boyfriend,
leaving me in charge of 4 younger siblings. Were we neglected? Definitely.
Was it any help or less traumatic to be drug out of the house by
policemen...I don't think so. We were returned to our home within less than
a week and the only thing that changed is that my mother got sneakier.

Ultimately, I had to save myself by refusing to have a relationship with my
parents. Could foster care or any other government funded program do that
for me before I was ready? I don't think so. Until I was ready and able to
do something for myself, any attempts to 'help' would have been useless. I
believe the programs need to be there for those who truly need it and/or
request help. But I also believe that our society is quick to interfere
without thinking about whether the standards we so readily accept are really
as cut and dried as they appear.

For instance, is it better to remove these children and send each of them to
a separate foster home (assuming any can even be found) or to leave them
together and relying on each other and whatever resources are still in their
home. Eating lily pads and/or pond water soup may not be desirable to
everyone, but who's to say this is worse than the alternative. Sometimes
the hidden injuries are much worse than the obvious external ones.

Just in case anyone thinks differently, I am not in any way advocating that
children who are being actively abused should be left with abusive families.
OTOH I don't think it does a lot of good to forcibly remove children from an
undesirable environment when they obviously do not want help and there is
not real risk of imminent injury.

Care must be used in deciding what is better and I'm not convinced that well
meaning officials consistently take the time to really think about which is
better, 'rescuing' or letting things be.

I don't have enough first hand information about this case to really know
whether the officials' actions were justified or not. But I do have enough
first hand experience to know this will be a traumatic experience for these
children.

Eiraul

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nanci Kuykendall" <aisliin@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: June 04, 2001 5:04 PM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] 6 Kids in Idaho


> >> You know, at least a part of me is pulling for the
> >>kids. The older sister is 16, not exactly a baby
> >>and they are obviously able to take care of
> >>themselves. Eiraul >>
>
> >But letting 20 some dogs go on someone is not
> >acceptable conduct. they were also reportedly eating
> >lilly pads (or something) and pond water soup. These
> >people need help.
> > NICKI~
>
> I am with Nicki.
>
> These kids have been raised to hate and fear
> authority, know how to handle guns, and have a pack of
> 27 wild dogs. This is not a healthy situation.

Rachel Wolfe Ravenhart

Nanci Kuykendall wrote:

> These kids have been raised to hate and fear
> authority, know how to handle guns, and have a pack of
> 27 wild dogs. This is not a healthy situation.

Well, hating and fearing authority isn't healthy - understanding it and
disliking it is another matter *G*. And ANY domestic animal allowed to
go feral, much less encouraged to do so is a danger. But knowing how to
handle guns IS a healthy thing. THAT is a knowledge that can save lives.

Rachel


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lynda

Number 3 son had 17 stitches in his foot when he stepped on a piece of glass
when he was 5. Those 17 stitches only covered about 2.5 to 3" of skin.

Also, if those dogs had attacked someone, there wouldn't have been any
someone left to complain about 17 stitches. That's a fact! They would have
been drug down, mauled and killed very quickly!

And so far, all these reports about the "evil" dogs have been strickly
rumors. Had the dog attack actually happened, according to bil who lives in
the next town, the dogs would have been hauled off and euthenized promptly!
(Actually, he said the county animal control agent with the help of the cops
would have shot the dogs but not to tell any city folks that because it
upsets them.) And I notice that no one is coming up with a copy of any
report on this supposed attack.

Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vicki A. Dennis" <mamaxaos@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] 6 Kids in Idaho


> But power had been back on for quite some time before the mother was
arrested
> according to power company. I *think* that water availability problem
is
> with their own pump----not piped in city/county utilities water. The
focus on
> no electricity was similar to "urban legend".
>
> > least one innocent person who was walking NEAR their
> > property who was severly injured, requiring at least
> > 17 stitches.
>
> Let's not get carried away with how to define severe. Unless on the
face or
> genitals, 17 stitches not exactly an impressive wound. An injury yes,
but
> severe is when those dogs in a California building mauled a woman.
>
> Vicki
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
> http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
> Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
> http://www.home-ed-magazine.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

[email protected]

<< Let's not get carried away with how to define severe. Unless on the
face or
genitals, 17 stitches not exactly an impressive wound. An injury yes,
but
severe is when those dogs in a California building mauled a woman. >>

Whoa!!! If I or my kids need ONE stitch, or a bandaid, from walking in a
public place minding our own business, I'd consider it fairly severe.

Just because someone else needs 100 stitches or an amputation doesn't mean 17
stitches is nothing to get carried away about.

Sandra

Vicki A. Dennis

bandaid, from walking in a
> public place minding our own business, I'd consider it fairly severe.
>

Actually, there has been no indication that this reported injury occurred on
public property. The only reference to location is that of a person "walking
near the house". A house located on 40 acres and with signs warning folks to
stay away. For all we know, dogs chased and bit someone who was either
accidentally trespassing while on a nature walk or was intent on checking out
this prime property. Or perhaps refused to continue on their way down a
public road when dogs displayed protective behavior while on private adjacent
property.

Are y ou saying that if while bicycling a paved road, you or your child hit a
pebble and take a tumble, you would be upset because you would consider the
ensuing broken arm or cut on knee requiring either a butterfly bandage or 3
stitches to be "severe"?

My use of "carried away" refers to defining and usage of the word "severe" ,
not to the emotional action one might feel for ANY "boo-boo" suffered by
one's babies---whether occurring on public or private property.

Vicki

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/5/01 8:15:15 AM, mamaxaos@... writes:

<< Are y ou saying that if while bicycling a paved road, you or your child
hit a
pebble and take a tumble, you would be upset because you would consider the
ensuing broken arm or cut on knee requiring either a butterfly bandage or 3
stitches to be "severe"? >>

Not at all. I objected to the comparison to a total mauling.

<<My use of "carried away" refers to defining and usage of the word "severe"
,
not to the emotional action one might feel for ANY "boo-boo" suffered by
one's babies---whether occurring on public or private property.
>>

This seems kind of belittling.

One's babies shouldn't be bitten by anyone else's dogs, and the number of
stitches required shoudln't be used to pooh-pooh such an attack.

Whether these particular dogs bit anyone on or off their property doesn't
concern me. That someone would say "JUST 17 stitches is no big deal" does.

If my kids are breaking into your house and your dog bites them in the face,
fine--they asked for it. If my kids are just being and your dog bites them,
I'll be grumpy and I won't consider it a "boo-boo."

Sandra

Lynda

Just a note. I don't know how this became a child that was injured (not by
you Vicki, by others) but it was an adult that was walking on their property
in the original news report.

Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vicki A. Dennis" <mamaxaos@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 7:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] 6 Kids in Idaho


>
> bandaid, from walking in a
> > public place minding our own business, I'd consider it fairly severe.
> >
>
> Actually, there has been no indication that this reported injury occurred
on
> public property. The only reference to location is that of a person
"walking
> near the house". A house located on 40 acres and with signs warning
folks to
> stay away. For all we know, dogs chased and bit someone who was either
> accidentally trespassing while on a nature walk or was intent on
checking out
> this prime property. Or perhaps refused to continue on their way down a
> public road when dogs displayed protective behavior while on private
adjacent
> property.
>
> Are y ou saying that if while bicycling a paved road, you or your child
hit a
> pebble and take a tumble, you would be upset because you would consider
the
> ensuing broken arm or cut on knee requiring either a butterfly bandage
or 3
> stitches to be "severe"?
>
> My use of "carried away" refers to defining and usage of the word
"severe" ,
> not to the emotional action one might feel for ANY "boo-boo" suffered
by
> one's babies---whether occurring on public or private property.
>
> Vicki
>
>
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
> http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
> Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
> http://www.home-ed-magazine.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Nanci Kuykendall

I agree that this is not a healthy situation. But I'm
also not convinced that there was dire enough
>immediate need to warrant police interference to
>'offer' 'help' that was not wanted.
>........to show up with guns and badges, potentially
>forcing entrance in order to drag away the children
>in order to 'offer assistance' is probably beyond
>warranted.

>I was pleased to note that the police department
>seems to have gone out of their way to enlist the
>assistance of family friends, rather than resort
>directly to force.
>Eiraul

Just to put things in perspective, lets discuss
Northern Idaho. Lost of wilderness and resort areas,
tiny communities where everyone knows everyone else.
The police are small town cops who know and care about
their neighbors. They knew this family. They did not
arrive with guns to kick in the door of the house and
drag out screaming children. The arrived, spoke
calmly with one of the older boys for a time, and he
proceeded to run into the house shouting "GET THE
GUNS!" and they let all the dogs loose on the
oficers. The dogs had been locked in the basement via
a legal order to restrain them because of their wild
hunting and endangering neighbors. They had probably
told him that his mother had been taken into custody
would be my guess.

About that woman the dogs attacked, I should have said
the attack was serious and not necessarily the wounds.
Luckily she was rescued by a Sheriff happening along,
who was also attacked and bitten despite firing his
weapon to scare them off. ANY dog attack,
particularly pack attacks is not fun or minor.

Nanci K.



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35
a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

katseye

Thank you Lynda.
You've said what I've been thinking and wondering about.
I think this whole situation is an outrage!

And yes, where is that extra money?
What is wrong with eating soup that is made from foraged food?
We do it.....does that mean my child is not healthy? heck no!
It has been proven that the children ARE healthy and still she is charged
with neglect.

I was sickened to hear that they've searched their home, and taken four of
their dogs too
(which they are already talking of adopting out!)

Free country my ass!

Mrs. McGuckin was right in not trusting the government.
Look what has happened to her family.

Blessings, Katseye

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/5/2001 1:34:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
katseye@... writes:


>
> Mrs. McGuckin was right in not trusting the government.
>

It has been my experience that what I focus on. . . either positive or
negative, I call to myself. I personally don't believe anyone can do anything
to me that I am not in some way participating in . . . it may be
unconsciously, but participating none the less. This attitude helps me to not
ever be a victim, something I have chosen many times in the past. I like it
better this way.

lovemary
If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then
make a change.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

lovemary -

You are so right!!!!!!! How you view the world does determine how
the world treats you.

And you know, there are probably a whole lot of people out there who,
like me, are listening to the reports, reading the papers, reading
the web boards and watching the news and holding our judgements until
the dust settles and we find out what's really going on. I tend to
believe that when the truth - the real truth; not the media and
not 'from someone who lives there' reports - comes out it will
actually be somewhere between the 'what a horrible family' and 'poor
victims' views being cried in public right now.

Let's just wait and see.

Jane










--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., lite2yu@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 6/5/2001 1:34:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> katseye@e... writes:
>
>
> >
> > Mrs. McGuckin was right in not trusting the government.
> >
>
> It has been my experience that what I focus on. . . either positive
or
> negative, I call to myself. I personally don't believe anyone can
do anything
> to me that I am not in some way participating in . . . it may be
> unconsciously, but participating none the less. This attitude helps
me to not
> ever be a victim, something I have chosen many times in the past. I
like it
> better this way.
>
> lovemary
> If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at
yourself, and then
> make a change.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Nanci Kuykendall

>Thank you Nanci. Do you live here in Idaho too? For
>some reason all that was in my head about Idaho but I
>couldn't bring it out properly. Also I can not say
>enough how I know families like this who train their
>children to use guns and the attitude that is
>instilled.
>NICKI~

Yes I do live in Idaho. I agree that there are a
number of families in this area whom have some
different ideas about things. I know a number of
folks who are gun owners, and NOT responsible. I know
one person who keeps multiple guns in his truck at all
times, which is stupid, as they are easy to get at by
people other than him. Indeed a month ago he had his
truck broken into and several guns were stolen,
including an illegal assault rifle. I shudder to
think of them in the hands of the burglar.

I also want to stress again that there is a peculiar
culture in Northern Idaho and nothing surprises me
coming from there.

Someone mentioned that they thought there was a
connection between the local government and the folks
wanting to own the lakefront property. I know that
much of the Sandpoint area, including the Ski Resort,
is owned by the Lewis family, whom a dear friend of
mine married into. Small town government tends to be
in the hands of prominent citizens, many of whom
achieve their prominence through land and asset
holdings, business ownerships, etc. One must also
realize that small resort towns are always striving to
improve their image, their trades and income, their
appeal to tourists, etc. To say "someone" in the
governemt wants the lakefront property to be developed
is silly. Of course they do. That does not
necessarily mean that there is a conspiracy afoot, and
even if someone or someones are working to affect a
less than legal siezure of land, that does not mean it
is an overreaching plot amongst the entire staff of
the local authorities in their various offices.

I do not argue that there is nothing fishy going on,
as it all seems to have gone down too fast and too
conveniently. That area has as much nepotism as any
other tiny resort area, where folks look out for their
own. People who isolate themselves would not have as
much public sentiment and position as beloved members
of the community, to some others in the community
either.

Nanci K.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35
a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/