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A Downside to Institutional Style Schooling

My oldest was taking the PSAT the other day at one of our local high schools. It is the 2nd time we've been to this school for testing since they are one of the few in our area that administer the AP Latin exam.

The people we've worked with have been terrific. Very friendly and helpful, and I can tell those who work at the school care about the kids and their job. The main receptionist/administrative assistant is incredible at her job.

There is "In God We Trust" framed in the office.

Notwithstanding the obvious spiritual problems of an education not founded on the word of God, there is an element of institutional school that I've seen afresh due to a book I just went through. It is entitled When People Are Big and God is Small, and it tackles overcoming codependency, peer pressure and the fear of man. The fear of man is a topic taught about in Scripture plenty, and everyone in our world deals with it to some degree.

What I've seen recently is that schools foster and feed a fear of man like few other things can. There is continual pressure to conform and fit in, or because of that people respond by recoiling and going a totally different way. There are always people around, so an introvert has to spend hours and hours of their day unhappy. Kids spend so much time with peers, that is who they learn to go to for many of their problems, though kids need solid advice from adults.

In the time I've spent in the office, I've seen many kids. Everyone goes through the day doing what they need to do, but it is so much time away from parents and home...I realize for some that is a good thing, but that doesn't speak to the issue of the school and how the kids shouldn't be influenced so much by people their own age.

Even if our academic standards lined up with the public schools, and even if they weren't failing to base the education on the truth (and isn't anything not based on truth a total waste of time ultimately?), and even if the schools were safe from predatory adults or dangerous kids, the fact it is a quagmire of kids with various beliefs, backgrounds and problems. Naturally when we're around other people we're heavily influenced by them, and a measure of conformity is needed to survive in a setting like school.

Finally, let us remember that the teacher in a public school is not necessarily the one leading the class. It is the ideas, the culture, the TEXTBOOKS, which in certain settings everyone agrees are going downhill when it comes to telling the truth about our nation and science.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12


As Luke 6:40 says, A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.


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