Comments on Public Schools
Posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Here are a couple of comments (with names removed) that I have gotten about public schools:
Dr. Lamerson,
About 20 years ago, my wife and I made the decision to withdraw our sons from The Government School, and to home school them. At the time, it was more for practical reasons. First, our youngest was diagnosed with ADD (without hyperactivity) and all that his school could offer was a “special ed” class. The principal and teacher did not know how to work with him. Once, while in the 2nd grade, when he was bored in class, he simply walked away from school and walked home. The only way the school thought to handle this, was by suspending him from school.
That began the first day of home school for him. It wasn’t long after that, when we decided to home school our oldest, again mostly for practical reasons. He was suffering from chronic asthma and was missing school. Whenever we kept him home, my wife would go to the school and get his work and home school him so he wouldn’t fall behind.
Since we were already homeschooling one, and almost homeschooling the other, it made sense just to withdraw him from The Government School too. This made me very happy since I had been listening to Christian talk radio for years and was becoming more knowledgeable of the pitfalls of “Progressive Education”. Suffice it to say, both boys did well. Due to personal reasons, we re-enrolled them into the Government Schools for high school. I wish that we hadn’t, although the faired well, since we had built a foundation upon The Truth. We also remained engaged in their lives. So when The Government School tried to teach them that they were the result of random chance events; descendants from apes, they didn’t believe it and simply answered test questions with the answers that the Government dictated, not what they believed.
Your timing for this blog is excellent, since the Board of Education for The State of Florida just wrapped up public hearings yesterday concerning the proposed changes to the science curriculum to one that mandates the explicit teaching of evolution to all students in the Florida public schools. I took advantage of my 3 minutes and spoke at one of the hearings where I raised the question of what happens to a child, who learns in Sunday school 1 hour a week, that God created the Earth and all therein, and yet spends 5 days in The Government Schools learning about Evolution. I raised the idea that what they are doing with this antithetical teaching is undermining the faith of the children. I asked them what kind of children they wanted to raise:
those who settle disagreements by bringing guns to schools and kill teachers and fellow students? I reminded them of the multitude of other atrocities being committed by children and adult alumni of 60+ years of “progressive education”. Dr. Lamerson, they laughed at me.
Some of the people in the audience did not understand what I was talking about, a few did.
Most of those who spoke, presented their credentials: PhD’s, MS, BA, etc. Microbiologists, chemists, physicists, teachers, college professors; all professing themselves to be wise, but speaking utter foolishness. “There are mountains of evidence” and “Evolution is a fact”, they declared. There were a handful of people who attempted to speak The Truth in love, or speak of “Intelligent Design” and were scorned. At several points, the “educated” elite, pro-evolution people actually became angry with a speaker when they spoke of The Truth of The Bible and “Intelligent Design”; even to the point of trying to shout them down. Spontaneous laughter would break out sporadically by many, including some Board Members.
So your question is should parents send their children to the Government Schools? I say no. Why sacrifice your children’s faith on the alter of the Government Schools! I do believe that us adults must remain engaged in the Government Schools; reviewing text books, attending board meetings, holding school board office, opposing lies.
The Church of Jesus Christ (not Mormon), needs to take back the responsibility of teaching children and re-educating adults. Think about this: The majority of people alive today in American has been influenced and/or affected to some degree, by the secular progressive [or progressively secular] education in our Government Schools.
On Christ the solid rock we stand!
Sam,
This is obviously a subject close to my heart. I have involved my children in private schools all of their lives ( except _____ for his high school years), so my position is evident. The fact that ____ attended private, Christian school for his developmental years, I believe, prepared him for his high school years. At the same time, what we as a family went through at the end of his high school years was heavily influenced by the culture he was surrounded by for those years. He bounced through three colleges before finally walking away from higher education and then suffered through several more years before getting his focus back and now becoming a Godly family man. (I’m sure you know his story.) Not that the rest of the kids are perfect, but they seem to have their focus much more clearly and are solid in their walk.
More importantly, we “experimented” with _____ and ______ when they were younger. For one year they attended public school. We held out the banner that we as Christians cannot turn our backs on the public education system and that it was a mission field for us. What our children experienced in less than one year (we pulled them out before the year was over) was not dissimilar to the Massachusetts example given in your blog. We lived in a small homogeneous community in suburban Michigan and still our children were not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter, but did learn all about hanukah and kwanza. ________ handed out “goody bags” for her birthday to all of her classmates with a “WWJD” bracelet inside and was called to the principal’s office. Quite an experience for a shy 1st grader.
My point in this is that while we as parents have a duty to carry the gospel into all the world, we must not sacrifice our children in the process. My young daughter was devastated when she was told she could not give out her bracelets (she decided to put them in the bag). Neither of them could understand why they couldn’t hand out pictures of the manger for coloring in school (we made the copies ourselves). When they asked about reading the true story of Valentine’s Day, they were not allowed. Children are simply not equipped for the mission field. Home school them and then when they are solid in their Christian values and understanding, maybe then they can survive the public education mission field. In the meantime they can pray for their friends as they observe their behavior; they can pray for the other schools where Jesus is not allowed; they can pray for the families that can not afford to go to private schools and cannot home school. Let our children use the swings and the slide at the park as their mission field. Where they make the rules and the adults sit and watch.
Anyone feel led to defend the other side of the issue? Let me know.
SamLam
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Comments
1Phil Letizia:Friday, February 15th, 2006 at 11:37 am
I’m a product of 12 years of private, Christian education. Yes, 12 years! Yet my feelings towards the subject have changed dramatically since I graduated highschool. We Christians often shout from the rooftops that our beliefs are not taken seriously, that our views are trampled under the feet of the state, and though this seems to be true at times, I’m baffled by our response. Our response is an exit strategy! What!? I don’t ever recall hearing “exit strategy” talk come from the mouth of Jesus or his closest followers when persecution, or tough times come. So then what we’ve begun to ask the state to do is to not teach evolution and sex-ed to kids when we’re not even there to effect real change, or say why! We’re gone! We become like a person on the outside of the bakery, telling the baker through the window how much flour he should use!
We’re not inside the bakery anymore though are we? We’re on the other side of town.
It’s interesting to note as well some of the history of our private Christian schools. When did we begin to see them multiply and spring up? After desegregation. I’m not implying what you may think I’m implying, but it bears noting. When it became “uncomfortable” for us to Christians. When our world was shaken by the introduction of entirely new demographics and classes of students to our schools, we exited. And now we wonder why what is taught there is taught.
Here’s the deal. If we really canvased our “Christian” schools, we would find some really ugly things. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, more money than kids know what to do with, and a loss of an understanding of true sexuality, but hey, they do pray before every class. I agree with the other comments. The chief responsibility falls on the parents. To raise and train their children in the ways of the Lord, IN THE WORLD. There we see the gospel flourish, there we see lives changed and families healed.
I’m all for Christian schools, but in places where kids that can’t afford private suburban schools are. They need the gospel, and a helping hand. Instead all of our Christian schools cost thousands of dollars, are 95% white, and do they really produce gospel believing, world changing people? I don’t know.
If we want to see creation, abstinence, biblical sexuality, and other values that we hold in public schools, than why don’t we take up the challenge to be there when they ask why. Or how. We should care for the protection of all of the children, not just our own. If we leave… if we leave, what will happen to them?