Parents are to Raise Their Children, Not Strangers
“As schooling becomes more rigid and consumes more of childhood, it is causing increasing harm to children. Many of them are unable to meet unrealistic academic and behavioral expectations at such a young age, and they are being labeled with and medicated for delays and disorders that often only exist within a schooled context. Parents should push back against this alarming trend by holding onto their kids longer or opting out of forced schooling altogether,” wrote Kerry MacDonald in her article titled New Harvard Study Shows the Dangers of Early School Enrollment.
I am not sure what convinced most of us that it was okay to send our children away for most of their childhoods to be raised and taught by strangers who weren’t allowed to teach them the ways of the Lord. God commands that parents be the ones to raise their children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), not strangers. Our goal should be that they grow in the wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3:18), not in the wisdom and the knowledge of the world because their eternal souls are all that matter in the end.
Children are meant to be home full time with their mothers. This is a main reason God calls young women to be keepers at home and older women are to be known for “raising” children (1 Timothy 5:10) not letting others raise their children. Children aren’t meant to sit in chairs most of their childhoods. They aren’t meant to be with a bunch of other children stuck in classrooms most of their childhoods. They’re meant to be with their mothers.
Here are some quotes from my favorite preachers and their opinions about public schools:
“Your children will go to public school and they will be trained for somewhere around 15,000 hours in ungodly secular thought, and then they’ll go to Sunday School and they’ll color a picture of Noah’s Ark. And you think that’s going to stand against the lies that they are being told?” (Paul Washer).
“Today’s parents tend to be more passive and less involved in their children’s lives than any generation in our nation’s history. They have turned their children over to artificial, surrogate parents. Day care centers, relatives, the television set, and the children’s own peers have far more influence on the moral and social development of today’s children than parents do. That is an abduction of the parent’s duty before God. The Lord Himself gave parents – not schools, youth leaders, Sunday School teachers, or anybody else – the primary responsibility for the nurture and admonition of their children.” (John MacArthur)
“In the meantime, our schools grow progressively worse. As fall approaches, I want to appeal to those of you with children in government schools. Please don’t send them back! I beg you to consider what you are doing. As Dave Black has written: ‘No academic skepticism, no secularist authors, no blatant materialism can so undermine the spiritual life of the country like the completely secularized training of the child under the authority of the state… Bible-based education is mandatory for Christian parents. If we think we can keep our children in a secular school system and escape the dumbed-down, amoral, and immoral results of secular humanism in schools, we are sorely mistaken.’ (Voddie Baucham and he gives five reasons NOT to send your children back to public schools).
“Are public schools an option for children of parents who follow scripture? Al Mohler: increasingly no.” (John Piper tweeted this and linked to an article why it is not.)
You would be wise to heed the warnings of these godly men.
…bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4
13 thoughts on “Parents are to Raise Their Children, Not Strangers”
Amen to that! I weep for the generation of latch key kids and those raised in daycare who barely see their mom… All part of the system of broken families….
Loved this and the linked articles (but the last link didn’t work). In this day and age I’m more surprised that the default for Christians isn’t homeschooling. It seems like the default is to go along with the world’s institutions and only go on the less traveled path only if they have a miraculous direct word from God.
I think the article you linked by Voddie Baucham spoke well concerning so many Christians praying about homeschooling and rejecting it in favor of “doing what was right for our family”. I hear that excuse so often (and in lots of various scenarios) that I wonder if thei Bibles are less clear than mine or perhaps less opened? Because Voddie was right, the Bible does speak to every facet of our lives. We never have to wonder or wait for a special word from God on how to live. He is clear and direct.
It looks like the link to the last article is a problem with the web site being down. Check it later on and hopefully it will be fixed!
Yes, I love these godly men speaking out on this important issue. I wish more would do the same.
Lori, a little over a year ago I spoke up among my church friends about my reasons to homeschool. It ended up being a mistake. They blasted me for being judgmental and legalistic and I feel tension around them to this day. It’s caused me to become silent about this issue when I’m at church. What confuses me is our church uses curriculum from John MacArther and Voddie Baucham so I know these men are respected in our church. What further confuses me is that the same moms who shunned me for my beliefs have no problem speaking up about theirs. Why must I be silent yet the public school moms mouth off in bible study about sending their kids to be “salt and light”? Do you think it’s best to just live and let live? Or should I not let them silence me?
If they have blasted you about your views, Courtney, I would remain silent. It’s apparent they don’t want your views. Keep living them out instead and in this way, you will most likely prove your point more effectively!
Thank you, Lori. I appreciate your response.
our family was shunned by church people for no other reason than homeschooling. we never made comments about public school. However, these women ostracized me very quickly and made us all uncomfortable at church. we took this for a few years, then left that church when we moved. I have never been treated so hatefully for homeschooling as I have in the church by so called Christians. the American church is drowning under false doctrine and teaching. they refuse the truth and put up barriers to the truth. thanks for addressing this subject.
All Christian Churches of every denomination should teach very firmly that a mothers place is in the home caring for her children.
I’m in my final years of homeschooling my children. The advice that my husband and I can give from our years on this journey is that if mom doesn’t have support from dad, it will be almost impossible for her to be successful. We had friends where mom was all on board, but dad came home every day criticizing her for what she did or did not get accomplished. She homeschooled for 2 years, then sent them to public school. Secondly, why not give it a try for a year? I was a very unsure homeschool mom. I wanted to make sure I was giving my children the best education that I could, but there were days I failed. My husband would say things like, today you feel like a failure, but tomorrow is a brand new day to start again. You can do this! So, the year came and went, and I found that I was a little more confident. As every year passed, my confidence grew, and before we knew it, our first was graduating. Third, you have to have a thick skin especially if you’re the only one in your church homeschooling. People are critical, but if you keep your goal in sight, no matter what that goal may be, you can do it! Our reasons for homeschooling were to teach our children to be leaders and to think for themselves. We wanted them to love and serve the Lord in their personal and public lives, and to be examples of what true Christianity is all about. I’m not saying that Christian parents who choose public schooling don’t want those things for their children, but our choice to best accomplish those goals for them was to homeschool them, protect them from the world while they were young and impressionable. We were able to teach them about creation v evolution, limit their exposure to sex education and homosexuality and a myriad of other topics. We could answer all their questions from a biblical perspective and not the world’s view from their friends at school. Lastly, as far as people being “called” to homeschool, we believe that is not so much a calling but more of being before the Lord in prayer about it and carefully considering your choices. If you do choose public school, be super involved. Be the mom who volunteers for everything. Be aware of what’s being taught. You can’t let down your guard for a second because when you do, the evil one will be there to slip in. This is a battle for our children’s minds! That’s true for public, private or homeschooled children. School choice is not a magic button that guarantees our children will turn out wonderfully. Eventually they will have to make their own choices, but it’s what we as parents do with those impressionable, in between years in training them that will determine whether they choose to follow the Lord and be faithful to Him or follow what the world has to offer.
Courtney, I’m in the same situation at church, and you’re right. Those who would accuse me of being judgmental just for the decision to home-school my children have no problem loudly celebrating their own choice to put theirs in public schools and expect me to celebrate their choice AND support it both ideologically AND financially . My S.S. class at church is about 75% public school teachers and they are quite the girls’ club. I keep a low profile. I also have a brother whose children are in public schools and he is a teacher as well. His wife is very outspoken and defensive about their decision. I can’t count the times I’ve heard the “salt and light ” argument from her. I, too, have chosen not to make a further issue of it since it just leads to friction in the family. My mother, however, after seeing the growing differences between my children and my brother’s, has become a big advocate of home-schooling. She now publicly states her belief that NO child should be in government schools. I’m not sure why others find it so offensive, except that it must prick their conscience.
Leah, thank you for sharing your story. It’s tough when you don’t feel supported among your own “people”. Although it sounds like your mother fully supports you. That’s wonderful, and so important! The last line in your comment hits the nail on the head… in order to get offended you’d first have to have a little insecurity. The person who is fully confident and sure in their choices, usually is not the one getting their undies in a bundle.
We, as Christians, spend our lives sitting between two suiters. One beckons us into the world, the other toward a narrow path. The reasons for sending God’s children into Ceasor’s indoctrination center that we tell ourselves reveal how we’re doing in that battle, or if we’re “doing” at all.
Hi Courtney, could you please help me with the schedules you speak of? I have 2 kids, 3 and 5 and we don’t even know where to begin.