Should Christians Exit Public Schools?? and how to cultivate faith in kids

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=370350

Check out this link --an article about encouraging Christians to exit from public schools.

There are many comments following, also.

They cited the fact that a previous vote to ban gay marriage in California was supported by more people than the recent one. They believe more young voters are being influenced in public schools to support gay marriage --to be liberal in general. What I see is that these young people are influenced in secular universities by atheistic/agnostic thinking --liberal profs in our classrooms. Measure a Year said this was so at U.T.

I observe that even the Christian-school educated are coming out more liberal than we'd like to see. I wonder if tv isn't the bigger influence. With no adults supervising at home, with the prevalence of working mothers, television is raising the kids, even more than any school is.

My kids have their faith intact and their morals relatively unscathed compared to the world's children in America and Europe. They went to public school. I think Christian parents need to be there and be vigilant for the sake of all the children, but the folks in the article made one observation: we are not converting the public school children to Christianity; they are converting our kids away from it.

Well, not so in my family. However, there were some harmful influences in public school, but we and our church --and the church colleges we sent them to --were stronger influences in the long run.

However, we didn't see our role in public school as being to convert --but to be salt. We did put the brakes on some liberal notions in our district -- teachers WERE taking advantage with liberal oriented, inappropriate books and films. They needed parents who would protest and remind the school of their limits. These were OUR children for them to teach --not THEIRS to liberalize and propagandize. We didn't like their "values clarification" decision-making guides in "life skills courses." The child was the primary decision maker --it was stated that "no one has a right to tell you what is right for you." What are the implications of such a statement?

We've seen the results of public, Christian, and Christian home schools. Some of the most devout Christian young people I know came through public schools and went to Christian colleges. Some of the most wandering in their faith went to the public universities --but some very devout people attended there also.

In fact, I'd rather see Christian parents save their money for Christian college instead of Christian school K-12. College is the time when the kids are thinking about the big questions and asking them --this is when they need to be sitting at the feet of godly men and women as profs --people of faith. Instead, we send them to all kinds of liberal colleges to study philosophy, religion, lit, history and science --all subjects subject to liberal influence and interp.

There is also something stuffy about Christian schools --but not Christian colleges. AT least, that was so many years ago when we DID send the girls to Christian schools through 3rd grade. We might have continued except for transportation difficulties and the fact that we had a fine public school where we lived. I credit that school with an excellent college prep and music ed.

This is a topic I often think about: How to cultivate a saving faith in your children.
1. have one yourself--a saving faith
2. don't be hypocritical about your view of other people. If Jesus says to love and forgive everyone, you must try to show that you love and forgive everyone, that you are not a snob and teach them not to be. That you don't hold grudges. I think it's wrong, e.g., to let them pick and choose friends for a birthday party --when others in the same social circles will know they were left out.
3. adore your children --be high on your kids while always tenderly and firmly shaping their character and their beliefs, holding them accountable for sinful attitudes and behaviors. I think kids are happiest when they think their parents enjoy them--as well as when they have limits and know them.
4. Provide rich influences --youth seminars, speakers, Christian books and magazines. We would listen to Ravi Zaccharias CD's on family trips. They didn't have radios of their own, just tape players --as we discouraged the rock music stations with some success. Our house was never filled with rock music.
5. Don't make EVERYTHING religious --enjoy the wholesome aspects of secular culture. We also listened to Garrison Keillor on CD's. SOOO funny!
6. Teach, teach, teach --as you watch tv, after movies, in the car, etc. Teach right from wrong. Teach about the benefits of righteous living vs. sinful living --and use real life examples. Teach God's laws and principles.
7. Cultivate a love for God in them, a feeling and belief that God is a loving Heavenly Father who has expectations for them FOR THEIR OWN GOOD.
8. Don't let them disrespect you. You earn respect --but you also command it because it is right for them to respect their parents and other authorities who are doing right. This must not be done from threatened ego or a power trip, however. All that you teach and require is for their good --the good of their character and soul's future --not for your ego as a "good parent." They are not to think they are more important than other people in God's sight --even though they are of utmost importance to you, their parents.
9. NEver discipline in uncontrolled anger --but do let them know that certain things make you angry. I often had trouble feeling really angry at little kids, especially, and had to let them know that some things were VERY DISPLEASING and seriously wrong! Or they wouldn't take admonitions and corrections seriously. I concluded they needed to experience anger sometimes for their own good and know remorse for their sins.

Enough for now. What are some of your child-rearing theories?

What do you think of this issue linked above?






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible