'I refuse to send my children to school - there's too many shootings' (original) (raw)

A mom is homeschooling her children because she's 'too scared' to put them in a conventional classroom over school shooting fears - and says they'll have to be high schoolers before they step foot in a traditional classroom

Alexia homeschools her sons Archer, 3, and Arlo, 1.

A mom is teaching her kids at home because she's too frightened to send them to a regular school due to the risk of shootings. Alexia Delarosa, 30, says the high number of attacks in the US has made her decide not to send Archer, three, and Arlo, one, to school.

She began homeschooling in August 2023 and plans to keep them out of public schools until they reach high school age. So far this year, there have been at least 69 school shootings in the US, according to CNN. Alexia said: "So many terrible things happen at schools. It is crazy the amount of shootings we have. That alone is enough to deter putting my children in an environment where that could happen."

"It is devastating when it happens; how is it continuing to happen? It could happen at any school. It's scary and I am not willing to send my children into that environment. It has a lot to do with the state of the world - safety is a big factor."

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Alexia says she and her husband Matthew Delarosa, a coffee shop owner, 38, were both educated in the public school system. They had conversations before Archer was born, and realized they wanted him to stay away from the classroom.

Alexia, from San Diego, California, said: "I never felt comfortable with the idea of sending them somewhere for seven hours a day. I didn't want them to be in the hands of adults and be around other kids that I didn't know - that seemed scary to me.

"We both decided that homeschooling would be the best option for us. They are both pre-school age. We have started getting them into a routine for homeschooling" she added.

Just two months into homeschooling, Alexia's family, initially skeptical, have become supportive. She revealed: "Myself and my husband both grew up in the public school system. We had a very normal upbringing."

"Our family has been very supportive but we did get a lot of 'OK let's see how long that lasts'. Here it is so normal to send your kid off to a play center when they are two. They go off with another adult as soon as they are able to." she said.

Alexia is enjoying homeschooling and her children are flourishing. She expressed: "I have so much fun with it. I think a lot of it is the planning and being intentional about what you're doing. The curriculum is themed weeks."

"We did pumpkin week this week - all the activities have been based around pumpkins, taking out the seeds, and thinking about what we can do with them. In that, they are learning motor skills, being creative, and being out in the world," she explained.

Alexia loves to incorporate cooking and baking into their learning. She said: "A lot of activities I encourage are cooking and baking in the kitchen. Whatever the theme is I will come up with recipes that encourage that." She also shared that she plans to continue homeschooling her children through high school, despite her husband's differing opinion.

She explained: "I would rather they didn't. When we get to those higher levels of education we could have a tutor come in and teach them. Or there are homeschooling groups that get together. I would rather go that route."

In recent years, school safety has become a major concern. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 327 school shootings in the US during the 2021-2022 academic year, resulting in 188 casualties and 57 deaths. The most deadly school shooting in US history occurred at Virginia Tech in April 2007, where a student killed 32 people and injured 23 others.

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* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.