Posted on 03/14/2005 2:54:06 AM PST by JohnHuang2
On the 'sin' of sending kids to public school Author shares harsh campus realities, urges parents to pull children Posted: February 7, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
The man who helped push the issue of public education onto the national agenda of the Southern Baptist Convention has written a new book that blows the lid off government schools, showing parents the kind of worldview and values their children are influenced by 180 days a year.
Bruce Shortt, author of "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools," presents myriad reasons why government institutions are failing America's children and thumbing their noses at parents with a religious worldview.
As WorldNetDaily reported, last year Shortt helped spearhead an unsuccessful effort to have the Southern Baptist Convention pass a resolution urging its members to remove their children from public school.
In "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools," Shortt, writing from a biblical perspective, presents rigorous research about the agenda and effect of government schooling on the nation's young people.
Shortt especially wants to educate Christian parents, millions of whom send their kids off to public school every day.
"Contrary to what many Christians have been led to believe, there is no such thing as a 'neutral' education," Shortt writes. "All education is religious and conveys a worldview, and there is no more important decision that we make as parents than how we educate our children."
Continues Shortt: "Unfortunately, Christian parents allow an aggressively anti-Christian institution to form the minds of their children, and the fruit of that choice is bitter. The overwhelming majority of children from evangelical families leave the church within two years after they graduate from high school; only 9 percent of evangelical teens believe that there is any such thing as absolute moral truth; and, our children are being forcibly indoctrinated to believe that homosexual behavior is acceptable."
While Shortt wants Christian parents who use the government schools to read the book, he also encourages homeschooling parents to read it.
"Homeschool parents must have this book to minister to their Christian friends and neighbors, pastors and skeptical relatives. Our government-school habit is sowing the wind, and unless Christians turn from this gross sin we will reap a whirlwind that is unimaginable," Shortt says.
In the book, Shortt documents the pitfalls of public schools, saying the anti-Christian thrust of the governmental school system produces inevitable results: "moral relativism (no fixed standards), academic dumbing down, far-left programs, near absence of discipline and the persistent but pitiable rationalizations offered by government education professionals."
Shortt also urges pastors to read the book so they might "understand why the church can no longer abdicate its historic role in the education of our children."
Says Short: "'The Harsh Truth About Public Schools' makes it clear why no Christian child should be left behind in government schools. Our Christian children are perishing because parents and pastors lack knowledge. The information in this book exposes the 'salt and light' and the 'our schools are different' rationalizations for educating Christian children in pagan schools for the contemptible falsehoods they are.
"Any parent or pastor who genuinely desires to be faithful in the education of Christian children needs to find out what the public schools are actually doing, rather than relying on what they are saying they are doing or on memories of the public schools as they may have existed 10, 20 or 30 years ago."
Shortt makes his argument by citing a school district in Texas.
"There is no public school district in the country that has more Christians in the community or in the schools than that of Plano, Texas," he said. "In fact, the largest and most powerful church in the state of Texas, Prestonwood Baptist, is located in Plano. Yet, it took a court order to force the Plano schools to allow Christian school children to privately give classmates Christmas gifts that had a Christian message. Moreover, the school district had even prohibited schoolchildren from bringing red and green napkins to the school 'holiday' parties for fear the colors might remind someone of Christmas.
"The truth is that the public school policy and curriculum decisions that matter to Christians are not made locally. They are largely dictated by federal and state court decisions, federal and state legislation and regulations, and the teachers' union and other professional associations connected with the public schools."
But what about reforming the public schools? Isn't that a solution?
Responds Shortt: "Public schools cannot be reformed to provide a Christian education, and the evidence is overwhelming that even conventional secular reforms to reinstate traditional academic and moral standards will continue to fail. But even if you think that we should nevertheless try to reinstate traditional academic and moral standards in the schools, taking your children out is the most effective thing you can do to help the children whose parents have left them behind in the public schools. Only the threat of a collapse of the entire public school system offers even the remotest prospect of positive change. Traditional reform efforts are a waste of time.
"Even if you believe that there is nothing wrong with institutionalizing Christian children in public schools, you need to read this book because you may be wrong. Remember, you only get one chance to educate your children. There are no do-overs."
Call me old-fashioned, but I sometimes ponder the morality of funding schools with state gambling revenues (casinos & lottery).
If you are, you are not alone. I view any state-sponsored vice as a great evil.
We have that nonsense in Georgia, and ( aside from the moral components, or the endless series of people I see desperate to "win" at Lotto ) everytime I see a billboard crowing "XXX Million in the Ga. Lottery" I think, "great, that's XXX Million less people have to spend on themselves and their families."
To say nothing of it being a welfare system for political hacks and appointees. Perpetuating itself on greed and misery, with other people's money. For the Chillun... of course!
Oh, geez. Here we go again with the evils of public school. Is it any wonder I avoid that site 99% of the time.
I admire Mr. Shortt's ability to see public schools as they are--destructive of moral and religious principles. I think there is a connection between the public school atmosphere and the high rate of suicide among teenagers and college students. Most of what they learn is trash based on false principles. They do not learn skills that are useful for making a living. They learn a bunch of theories and old socialist ideas. They should be taught how to save their money and invest in mutual funds, so they can have a nestegg when they're old and not have to rely on the dying social security. They should learn to speak and write the English language well and to verbalize correct principles, not goobley-gook. Don't know when American parents are going to wake up and stop being lazy about the kids' education.
Homeschooling PING!
As if to add injury to insult, the hacks then play a shell game with the money. If on no other evidence than the fact that they cry there's not enough money for schools. If that's the case, then where are all these gambling revenues going?
Here it seems to be a mystery- the lootery ( dam, a typo, but a true one! ) takes in record-breaking revenues with each succeeding year, but every year, the local school board whines about needing more money. And more property taxes. And new schools.
I really suspect it's like the tobacco settlements, or the UN oil-for-food... a bottomless cesspool of kickbacks, bribes, corruption, and "make-work" jobs for friends connected with the system.
Ping
You must live in Pennsylvania...
So I guess you think public school in its current format is just fine?
I suppose the alternative is to let some evangelical nut educate your kids? No thanks.
One would reason that with the up side down pyramid and with fewer and fewer children being born in the U.S. that the cost of public education would go down, however, the reality is just the opposite, it keeps getting higher even with more and more students being home schooled.
This needs moved out of Front Page News. The article -- actually, it's an ad for the book -- is over a month old. You'd think the poster would know better.
Well if there is a choice I would take the Evangelical nut as opposed to the Liberal Nut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why don't you go ahead and eliminate that 1% so we don't have to be bothered skipping over your less than enlightening comments?
The term "child abuse" gets bandied about far too much as to make it's use nearly meaningless.
Sending your child to a government school in Memphis, Tenn. gives new meaning to "child abuse".
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