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When I was growing up, if you went to public school, you were cool. If you were homeschooled, you were weird. There was never an issue with teachers teaching us things that we shouldn’t know or telling us things that our parents didn’t want us to know. Of course, back then, God wasn’t in my life and my opinion of public schools has changed drastically. One of the biggest ethical issues in our society today is whether or not to send our children to public school with the fear of them being taught things that the teachers shouldn’t be teaching them.
Even though homeschooling sometimes does not produce the results of public schooling, public school isn’t always the best environment for Christian children. Parents want the best education for their children, but the question still looms, is public schooling the best option for Christian children? In a recent article titled, “Sending Christians to Public School: What the results show”, Dr.
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James Dobson who is the author and psychologist who hosts the radio show, “Family talk”, states this in the article. “Today, public schools don’t offer much in the way of values education, and if they do, it’s often wrong.” He also adds, “particularly today, so much of what goes on in public school is really harmful.” This made me think. Well-meaning parents are sending their children to public school, they are believing that the curriculum that is being taught is neutral. However, if the education system forbids even the slightest mention of God, it isn’t secularism.
Ravi Zacharias who is a renowned apologist said that it’s just an illusion of neutrality.
If God is taken out of the public-school education, children are being deprived of the truth of Jesus, even if they attend church with their parents. Let’s take a look back to where this all began and see how the seeds of secularism were sown. In Massachusetts in 1647, the public school system was born. This was under what was called the Old Deluder Satan Act. The very drive of this act was to ensure children would be able to read the Bible in school. Thus, public schooling in America was underway. There were many authors after this act had started that had a few things to say about the public education system in America. Noah Webster, who was the author of the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language said this about the education system. “In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which children, under a free government ought to be instructed.” If we are to send children to public school with the basis of illusion of neutrality, then Christ needs to be the center of their education.
However, every parent has the choice whether or not to send their children to public school. Public schooling isn’t necessarily detrimental to Christian children. Many people that I personally know have children in the public-school system, and who are Christians have heard other people, some in our Christian circles that it is sinful to send their children to public school. Sending their children to public school isn’t a sin just because the schools teach secularism and have liberal educators. In another article titled, “Christians and Public Education: A Matter of Biblical Justice”, the author stated that teachers and administrators are not God, and nor will the ever be God. However, God will send His laborers and He will send them to places with the most extreme want and where people are being marginalized. Children, which includes those in the public- school system are some of the world’s most vulnerable constituents. There is a need for believers in the public-school system. But what does that tell us? There seems to be a lot of confusion among parents as to whether or not to send their children to public-school. Many Christian parents will opt out in sending their children to public-school because of issues that have risen in the past decade. One of those issues is being that public-school education will derail Christian teaching.
Another issue that arises is in 2016 when President Obama approved the Department of Justice and the Department of Education’s “letter of guidance” which allowed transgender students to use whichever restroom that was of their chosen identity rather than the restroom that was for their biological identity. Because of stances that tighten religious freedom or that dispute biblical morality, some Christian parents may choose to not send their children to public schools. However, this is not an argument to try to convince Christian parents to send their children into the public-school system. It is a warning not to let our personal choices of public education to prevent us from doing justice, loving-kindness and walking humbly with the Lord. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God? Christians are given the freedom to educate their children however they please
. As long as they are teaching them the commands of God. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall trach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Verses 4-5 says, “Hear O, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.” If you are a parent and you choose not to send your child to public school, there is another option and that is homeschooling your children. Even with the option to send children to a private Christian school, there are still some challenges with this model. They aren’t biblical challenges however, but they can be detrimental to students that attend a private Christian school versus a public school. One major issue with this route is that one teacher is teaching a lot of students at one time. And as most people know, children all learn at different paces. Teachers in private schools don’t have the time to focus on the weakest or the strongest student in the classroom and teachers end up teaching the class all at the same pace. This ends up being an issue for everyone that is in the classroom. That’s why some parents are opting for homeschool because they can give their child the one-on-one attention they need. If you were to home school your child, it would definitely be a much cheaper route than sending them to private school. With that, the number of resources available for homeschool is increasing greatly, as there are books, workbooks and even online interactive learning tools for children who are being homeschooled.
However, there is still an issue that circles with homeschooling your children. Like Christian private schools, being homeschooled is not a promise for Christian education. Homeschooling requires a lot of work on the part of the parents. This is why many Christian parents are sending their children off to school. Also, parents who are choosing to homeschool their children need to make sure that they are possessing a Christian perspective themselves that they can teach their children. Homeschooling requires a lot of diligence for the parents. It can be an option, but there is a lot more to it than people think. Nowadays, however, there are homeschool groups, which is in between a Christian private school and homeschooling your children personally. These groups have the ability to provide communities among students as well as athletic competitions. This way, children who are “homeschooled” can have the chance to be more sociable than those who are just taught by their parents. Both private school and homeschooling groups provide a solid Christian education for children, and even though there are strengths and weaknesses with both options, homeschool groups give a private Christian education environment without taking away from the homeschool environment. With all the options at hand, there’s still a question as to whether or not public-school systems are the best for Christian children and their parents. Discussed briefly were some scriptures regarding education, however, I would like to take a deeper look into what the bible says about education. The bible is the best book out there to look for answers on this matter of public school.
Starting at the beginning, in Deuteronomy 4:9-10 (this is where Moses is preaching obedience to Israel). It says in verses 9-10, “Only take heed to yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’” Education is important for children, and biblically speaking, they need to be taught these things at a young age so that they may carry it with them. Another scripture that discusses the importance of education is Proverbs 1:7, which reads, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Later in Proverbs in chapter 19 verse 27 it says, “Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” If you put these two scriptures together, there is an important truth that emerges from it.
Late Apologist Greg Bahnsen makes a good point when he talks about how Proverbs 1:7 is an attitude of the heart. It is made clear in scripture that a good starting point for true knowledge is a heart that truly acknowledges God for who He is. Matthew 5:19 says, “Whoever therefore breaks one the least of these commandments (the Law), and teaches men to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called a great in the Kingdom of heaven.” And in Ezekiel 44:23, there is a similar notion. It says, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy and cause them to discern between the clean and unclean.” If there is any teaching that distorts what is right and wrong, it is not godly wisdom nor instruction. That is the ethical issue here, that is why public schools are given such a bad reputation. The public education system rests on a foundation of not only as Ravi Zacharias puts it, “an illusion of morality,” but also some secularism. God is not allowed, and the bible is banned. And because of this, it is quite certain that the fear of God is something that is not considered to be a solid foundation of the public-school system. Not only that, but as I always like to say, there is a method to this madness.
There is nothing in scripture that represents a classroom, it’s all about discipleship. Even though we see large groups that are being taught in the bible, there is no classroom setting like we see today in public schools. The model that is shown in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 is a discipleship-based model and parents during biblical times were to teach this model throughout the day. Why this approach? If your goal is to teach or preach to the masses, then a large setting is how to get it done. But if your goal is to shape and mold hearts and tune them with Jesus, then a one-on-one method is better. It’s not about being efficient, it’s about being effective. Clearly this approach is the way to go if you really want to get to the heart of things. There’s a reason why Jesus only had twelve disciples. It was because He wanted to have that one-on-one kind of relationship with them. With that being said, parents are meant to be the primary instructors in their children’s lives. And looking in scripture, there are a lot of passages that discuss this further. One of those is Ephesians 6:1-4. It reads, “Children, obey your parents in the LORD, for this is right, ‘honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’ And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” But what does that say about academics? Some of the scriptures only talk about spiritual instruction rather than academic instruction.
There was an article I read, and the author makes a good point when he discusses the fact that no one else has been commissioned by God to teach our children. He writes, “God didn’t command parents to handle spiritual matters, and the government, church, or other entity to handle academics.” Parents are in fact the primary ones who are responsible for all of their children’s education, including academics. Where does this leave us? Many parents still struggle with the thought of sending their children to public school. Many parents are going to choose to homeschool their children. It’s up to those parents to make that decision when it comes time for their children to attend school. Up until then, it’s the parent’s full responsibility to teach their children what they can up until it’s time to make that decision.
As we look at the bible, it is still quite clear that public school education completely fails to meet the spiritual need and criteria across the spectrum. Public schools are not and most likely will not give children the full proper education they need to succeed spiritually and academically. It's just a matter of using discernment to understand in the long run that public school is not all that beneficial to children. Even if you consider private school as was previously discussed, and a Christian private school even. They still fall short in the spiritual aspect of academics because they still have a sense of public schools. Just because the curriculum may be different and some of the morals are different, it doesn’t mean that the environment is any different than public schools.
Out of all the research I’ve done, all the articles I’ve read, here’s my conclusion: homeschooling is going to be the best possible choice for children when they reach school age. It is not only going to help them academically, but most importantly spiritually. Before I end, I want to tell a story. And this story is a personal story, but it really makes you see how public schools are not teaching our children what they need to be taught. I have a seven (almost eight) year old niece. One day, my mom had picked her up from school. My niece is very smart and very sharp. She is incredibly aware of her surroundings and she is quick as a whip. My niece got in the car and asked my mom if it was OK that two women get married. Of course, my mom said no, and she asked my niece who told her that. My niece’s response was that her teacher told her that. Now I’m not saying that her teacher is a bad person. What I am saying is that her teacher was wrong and had absolutely no place to tell my niece that it was OK for two women to get married. It’s that and other instances that I’ve either read about or other parents who have children in the public- school system have told me. It’s also what those children are being taught. A strong biblical foundation is a good place to start with children, and it starts at home.
In conclusion, we have looked at all the possible alternatives to public school and we’ve discussed the effects that public schools have on children. We’ve even discussed the biblical foundations of education and why public school is not the best choice for Christian children. Scripture is quite clear when it comes to spiritual and academic education. There is no wiggle room when it comes to God’s word. That’s why, even though homeschooling may not produce the same results as public-school, it is not the best environment for Christian children.
My Experience of Biblical Education. (2021, Nov 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/my-experience-of-biblical-education-essay
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