I heard a tale from a Christian person that might be of interest to other Christian people who are still trying to decide whether or not to send their kids to public school.
The tale goes: Once there was a Christian couple who educated their child at home. This family thought homeschooling was the best way to pass on their values to their son and also protect him (somewhat) from ungodly influences. One day, the boy was abused by somebody at church (not public school!!!) so the parents concluded that all their efforts were a waste of time.
Some of the other parents in the church were comforted (though they wouldn’t admit this publicly). They had been feeling convicted that secular schooling was not the way to educate Christian children so the abuse happening at church helped them justify their decision to subject their kids to anti-Christian education.
“That is horrifying,” they cried. “Our kids aren’t safe anywhere! It doesn’t matter whether we send them to school or to church! That family did everything they could to protect their child and it didn’t make any difference at all!”
These parents need someone to gently inform them of their error and if you’re one of those parents, I will now gently inform you of your error.
Educating your kids is like sending them to collect honey. Some parents send their kids to the bee hive wearing thick clothing, gloves, and a bee keeper’s hat. Some parents send their kids naked. Some of the children get stung even though they are covered-up. No rational person would say, “This is horrifying! It doesn’t matter what we do! Our children get stung whether we take precautions or not!”
A Christian education is putting your kids in a bee keeper outfit. It doesn’t guarantee they won’t get stung. A secular education is sending your naked children to collect honey and pretending you were powerless to keep them from getting stung.
“John, you jerk!!! Some people can’t afford to send their kids to private school and both parents have to work to survive so they can’t homeschool their kids, you jerk!!!”
You are choosing to force your kids to suffer bee stings. That’s fine with me. Just stop telling yourself their hardship is unavoidable. Also, stop telling me I’m ‘lucky my kids turned out okay.’
Oh, you may be tempted to say, “I’m not going to send my kid to collect honey at all,” which is confessing that you won’t play any role in their education. Make no mistake, your kids WILL be collecting honey even when you refuse to help them do it.
(Proverbs 2:6) For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.