Schools are in the news quite a bit today, aren’t they? Nearly every time you pick up the newspaper, listen or watch the news, or surf the Internet, you see examples of people behaving badly in school. I’m not talking about general classroom disruption that happens every day in every school, public or private. I’m talking about those egregious things that rock our very souls. I’m talking about school shootings, physical assault of teachers and students, sexual activity between teachers and students, total disrespect for authority, and a total vacuum of Christian values and principles. Additionally, students are bombarded by Socialist doctrine, the LGBTQ agenda, and Anti-Christian rhetoric.
So, what is a Christian parent to do? It’s easy to say put your kid in private school, or homeschool them. Unfortunately, that’s not an option for everyone. Private education is expensive and sometimes unavailable in a particular location, and many are ill-equipped to homeschool their children, or cannot do so because they have to work to put food on the table.
I had a long career as a public educator. I was a teacher, school administrator, and prior to retirement, a County Personnel Manager. Since 1973, when I started as a high school teacher, I watched in dismay as God was systematically stripped from school, Christian kids and teachers silenced, and the liberal agenda became the norm.
What happened? The answer is in the previous paragraph. “I watched” as it happened. Not only me, but thousands of parents and school employees nationwide watched our system crumble. We didn’t fight back.
Teachers get blamed for a lot of things on a daily basis. They are also expected to fix all of society’s ills. Teen Pregnancy….schools should teach Sex Education. Drug problem….enter the “Just Say No” program. Dysfunctional families….hire a social worker. Crack babies…..hire some more teacher aides. The list goes on and on.
The bottom line is that teachers can’t fix all those problems in an environment void of God and the Judaeo Christian Ethic. It’s impossible. Yet we expect them to turn out students who act Godly in an ungodly environment. It can’t be done.
In my little community of Barboursville, West Virginia, we have two public schools. The Village of Barboursville Elementary School, and Barboursville Middle School. I am personally acquainted with the administrators and a large portion of the faculty at each school. The majority of these folks are good, honest, God-fearing, kid-loving, patriotic Americans. Yet they deal with the ugliness of humanity every day in a school system that de-values their core beliefs, and promotes the liberal agenda. I’m not talking about the county system, or even the State Department of Education. I’m talking about The U.S. Department of Education and all the liberal, God-hating, liberal groups who influence their decisions.
You see, Federal mandate is far more important than local ideals. Do you think the lion’s share of teachers across this great land want to teach in a school system that suppresses Christian thought and promotes the liberal agenda? I don’t think so. Of course there are those liberal God haters in every industry including education, but I refuse to believe this is the majority consensus.
So why are our kids and teachers assaulted by this doctrine every single day? The answer is “we watched” it happen without raising a single objection. Why is that? Because we’re good people who have been taught to do our jobs, keep our mouths shut.
Our job as Christians in the public school system is not to evangelize, but we must certainly let our light shine without apology.
Start out by doing something simple like carrying your Bible to school, or silently praying over your food in the school cafeteria.
When I was a public school teacher, I got the student roster out every morning before the kids got there and prayed for them by name. As a principal, I prayed every day before school, and many times during the day for student safety. I prayed for the teachers in each classroom. Nobody knew it, but I did nonetheless. As a personnel manager, I often prayed with employees in my office and prayed for them when they left.
As a parent, get involved in your school. Visit often, have lunch on occasion with your child or grandchild. You’re allowed to do that, you know. Before new curriculum is adopted, parents are afforded the opportunity to examine that curriculum before it is purchased. When’s the last time you looked at textbooks, or a library reading list before the books were purchased? Attend Board of Education meetings. Call questionable practices into question. Write letters to local and national political figures. Be a voice! Don’t simply “watch.”
As a Christian teacher, set yourself apart someway from those who aren’t. Place your Bible on your desk, pray for your students on a regular basis, let them know if your church is having a community activity open to all. You can do these things without violating any Federal mandate.
Encourage your children and grandchildren to carry their Bibles to school, participate in National Day of Prayer, invite friends and teachers to church, start a Bible study group, and to always be on their best behavior. Teach them to be a light to those around them.
It has taken several decades of “watching” to get us to where we are today. We’re not going to fix it overnight. Let’s try shining instead of watching for awhile.
2 Corinthians 4:3-5 King James Version (KJV)
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.