Evangelicals Erring in Call to Remove Students from Public Schools

From the "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good" file, a group of evangelicals is calling on fellow Christians to remove their children from public schools:

Public schools take a lot of criticism, but a growing, loosely organized movement is now moving from harsh words to action — with parents taking their own children out of public schools and exhorting other families to do the same.

Led mainly by evangelical Christians, the movement depicts public education as hostile to religious faith and claims to be behind a surge in the number of students being schooled at home.

"The courts say no creationism, no prayer in public schools," said Roger Moran, a Winfield, Mo., businessman and member of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee. "Humanism and evolution can be taught, but everything I believe is disallowed."

I disagree very strongly with this. Since when have good parents abdicated the teaching of the really important stuff to public schools? The fact is, if you have a strong religious and moral teaching in the home, it isn't really going to matter what kind of nonsense they try to teach in public schools because you're kids will be smart enough to dismiss it. At least that's the case with mine.

Both my kids have come through public schools (and are still in public high school) and I wouldn't have it any other way. There are many times when we've discussed some of the nonsense that's come up in class (they've both had some pretty liberal teachers at times), and when I see them give the HolyCoast eyeroll as they discuss something dumb their teacher said, I know they've got a good foundation for their decision making.

Unfortunately, Christian schools are often the last refuge for students who can't or won't get along in public school, so the parents try to "fix" them by sticking them in a stricter religious environment. I'm sure that works some of the time, but what kind of influence are the bad apples having on the good kids?

Our kids have to grow up and live in a real world full of all types of people. A large percentage of them will not believe the way we do, but that's the reality of the world we live in and it's better to get them used to that idea at an early age then by suddenly removing them from a protected environment and throwing them to the wolves when they hit high school or college. I've seen a lot of kids totally freak out when they realize that the people they now have to work with didn't grow up going to chapel three times a week.

Of course, if you live in an area with really bad public schools, then the prudent course might be to place your kids in some type of religious school for safety's sake. I don't think, however, that it's a good idea for Christians to automatically seek out a religious-based education in lieu of public schools.