Is Merely “Surviving” Public Education Good Enough?

One of the areas where Westerners (including most Christians) rarely make the connection between our own society and that of Communist nations such as China, is in regards to “public” or government schooling.

One of China’s greatest weapons* in maintaining ideological control over their population is mandatory, secular (godless) public education. Indeed, many Chinese Christians can share heart-breaking stories of children rejecting the faith of their parents as a result of the indoctrination they received in the government schools. 

Although not (yet!) mandatory, public schools in the West have long been controlled by the secularists, who are driven by a devotion to humanism and evolutionary beliefs to keep the Christian God out of the classroom. If given the chance, no doubt many of our nation’s leaders would love to be in charge of “educating” ALL children, in much the same way as China is able to do. 

So in this season when most kids are being “forced” to do school at home, I pray that many parents would see the benefit of continuing to oversee their own children’s education beyond the current lockdowns, remembering that we are responsible to teach our children to love the Lord with all of their “mind”, as well as with heart and soul and strength. (Luke 10:27)

In a book I’m currently reading by Pastor Doug Wilson, he points out that we should have greater hopes for our kids than merely “surviving” a public school education:

“I got a public school education all the way through my Master’s degree, and I rejected much erroneous teaching along the way. My parents’ teaching at home had a major impact on me. Our family would debate various issues around the dinner table, and independence of mind (within a Biblical framework) was strongly encouraged. And it is quite true that I went through the secular system and survived. But have our expectations for education fallen so far that we are now when our children SURVIVE it?

Unfortunately, many parents do not have this kind of impact on their children. The secularism is not being effectively neutralized at home. When the children are grown, they bow down to other gods–or they stay with the faith of their fathers on Sunday and the faith of the secularists the rest of the week. 

I know firsthand that it is possible for Christian kids to make it through the public school system without losing their faith. I did not lose mine, nor did my brothers and sister. But should survival be the goal of education? Survival is one thing, and a godly education is quite another.”