Before we move on, a little look at the Democratic race …
Well, Hillary won in Pennsylvania, which many considered she could, so not too much of a surprise. Word is that many superdelegates are still leaning her way, and more could commit to her … those die hard elitists might be worried that Obama is too liberal (cavorting with known terrorists, influence of a very liberal pastor) to win a general election. They might be right. But Obama is still leading in the delegate count, and the popular vote, not to mention that Obama is also a better campaigner, speaker, and a more likeable candidate. The Democratic party is in a quandary, right now, and it will be historically interesting to see how they get out of this.
Will the Republican party be able to capitalize? They’ll have to show considerably more intelligence than they’ve shown over the past few years, like since the mid-90′s, to do so. If they let innovative people like Newt and others in their camp have some major influence, they’ve got a shot, but Republicans, as a party, haven’t really been too impressive, either.
On to the final installment on education …
Whew, didn’t think it would take me three posts, but here it is. So we’ve looked at some ideal solutions that probably won’t ever happen, so what should the Christian response be?
Well, there are three (or four) major responses to the educational question by Christians that I’ve noticed. I’ll discuss each one.
First, we have private Christian schoos, which have some positives and some negatives. On a positive note, the educational philosophies in Christian schools are generally more realistic and successful by any quantifiable test.
But I actually have a lot of problems with Christian schools (I still work at one). One, they are generally too exclusive, too selective about who can attend their schools (the two private Christian schools I’ve worked at actually wanted non-Christians to attend the school to be able to reach out to them). Two, they can be cost prohibitive – it takes money many just don’t have to spend. Three, they too often mix the message of Christian faith with stupid rules than either have nothing to do with the Kingdom (hair length, uniforms, etc) or are completely against it.
Second, we have the rise of home schooling. On the positive side, home schooling can be more flexible and organic and relational between kids and parents and much cheaper than most private schools. But I actually didn’t see homeschooling done really well until I went on the “mission field” (for lack of a better term).
Negatively, it completely depends on the discipline of the parents, many of who are not very well educated on their own, were unsuccessful in education to begin with, or generally had a bad experience within some educational system, so they simply have trouble instilling a healthy love for higher or self-education in their kids. They’re just doing it to comply with the gubmint, which for Christians, the law shouldn’t really be the motivation for much in life, especially the future of our kids.
One of my main problems with home schooling, especially among Christians, is the bitterness with institutions that consumes some of these parents. I mean, it really does border on hate with some of these people. The reason to home school is because it really is the best thing for the child and your family, and it very well may be, not because the public school is evil or something. Bitterness shouldn’t be the motivation for anything you do.
Becca and I have discussed homeschooling because a) we are both teachers already and b) Micah (if he’s like his daddy – and he is) will easily be able to get through curriculum requirements and then be able to spend time on something constructive he might want to do – an instrument, writing, whatever.
I saw a family recently that homeschooled and had time to learn and write music as a family. Those kids were great musicians at a young age and you could tell they were a close, healthy family. It can be done right.
What about socialization? Well, on the one hand, I actually believe too much socialization among kids your own age is part of the problem: it doesn’t encourage maturity – in fact it does the opposite (the concept of socialization with kids your own age didn’t exist before the socialists mandated education in this country … they needed more of an argument than “it gets kids off the streets” … now we’ve swallowed this thing that says kids NEED a lot of time with other kids their own age … and it has infected the Church and segregated whole generations from one another). Socialization amongst homeschoolers is an issue at times, so being involved in a community of all ages is essential – but wouldn’t that be essential anyway?
On some level, my kids will be seen as weird regardless, especially if Becca and I do our job and raise them in the character of Christ.
The third and last response by Christians is to just leave their kids in the public school system. Again, this can be positive if the parents are involved and dedicated enough to re-educate the secular humanism within the system and fight the parenting influence of the worldly institution. This can be a great way to teach kids “in the world but not of it.”
Of course, many parents aren’t disciplined enough here, either. They usually give their kids over the institutional church religion, too. So think about it. Your kids spend 40 hours a week at the public school system and two or three at an institutional church. Which one will have more influence? If the parents won’t take the responsibility and the time, the public school will, and yet many parents (and youth leaders) are just surprised at how many teens completely give up on the beliefs they wanted the institutional church to instill in them once you send them off to college and they are able to choose for themselves.
Ultimately, the proverb “train a child up in the way he should go and he will not depart from it” is absolute truth, working in principle both ways. If we allow the public school to educate and train up a kid, that is the way they will go, which is honestly away from God.
What works is always a) parents being the primary educators no matter what system or choice you make and b) a community of ALL ages around the child that shares the character of Christ with that child. It really does take a village to raise a child correctly. If you want the child to choose the Kingdom of God, let’s make sure it’s not the village of the world … without leaving the world to do it.
Peace.
[...] jake wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI saw a family recently that homeschooled and had time to learn and write music as a family. Those kids were great musicians at a young age and you could tell they were a close, healthy family. It can be done right. … [...]
Thanks !