There are many of us Christians who would dearly love to see our kids and grandkids going through a parochial school. The problem is not so much we still have to pay a public school tax. The problem is many of us cannot afford a good Christian school. If it were possible to send kids through school for the same price we already pay, that would be perfect!

I would like to see Peter Marshall, David Barton, and Gary DeMar collaborate on the creation of a DVD series to teach about the God's influence on the U.S. from Columbus until today. The curriculum could be taught in the churches if not in the schools. Our young adults(including parent) and students are not only misinformed, they are uninformed.

Hell No! We won’t go! Obviously I say that figuratively! And my response may be hypocritical to some as all three of my children attend a Private Christian school. Anyway I’d hate to see the blessing of those afforded the opportunity to obtain a Kingdom Education be overshadowed by our failed OPPORTUNITY to witness to those who don’t. Can you say OUTREACH? Yes, I’m disgusted with what does and does not go on in our public school systems, but it would be a shame, provided the opportunity, to do a Christian mass exodus from our school systems. Who then will witness to the lost? Who will stand up to the corruption? Who would fight to fix the mess or schools are in today? Who will fight to put Christ back in our schools? Not us, if we chose to hide in our safe corners and comfortable walls of Christianity. And if not us, who then?.... Nobody that’s who!! I can stand on either side of this fence and basically I do everyday as I go to my job to change the broken infrastructure of our public school systems through a Christian outreach initiative called Adopt a School www.adoptaschool.us , immediately after I drop my kids off every morning at North Raleigh Christian Academy. God is doing something amazing in the Triangle and it involves our school systems. Let’s not find too much comfort in the safety of Christianity and let not our actions be to back down to the “secular humanists that CURRENTLY run the education monopoly in America”, let’s fight for our right to party! Christians need to collaborate more and as my friend CJ Blair says “Come out from among them” and make a difference. We need to have our own better strategies for change!

Pulling your kids out of a public school system is a terrible idea. Taking children out of the real world of public schools and putting them into a pseudo world of private christian education gives them a false idea of what its like to deal with the public. You will only make it harder for them to stand on their own and adjust later to a daily walk in the real world. Kids need exposure to all faiths, religious backgrounds, and walks of life in order to find their center. Sheltering a child with pages of the bible, cookies, and VBS koolaid doesn't make them competitive in today's world. What Christians need is motivated driven individuals who are willing to get dirty, be real with their surroundings, so being so stunned at the actions of the public, and let their faith show through their strength and perseverance....not hide.

I couldn't agree more that there is a problem in our public education system in America. American government schools are heavily influenced by the worldviews of secular humanism and postmodernism. However, is removing Christian students from this environment the best option? I do not believe so. Instead of removing our children from this environment we need to prepare and teach them the fallacies and untruths taught by humanists and postmodernists. We must teach our children discernment. By pulling our Christian children out of public schools I believe we are unintentionally teaching young Christians that we do not have an intelligent response to the arguments of humanism. But nothing could be further from the truth. Christianity is the most reasonable worldview and we need to teach our Christian students this. We must teach and train our children in Christian apologetics. There are many resources available to teach young children about apologetics. Both Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel provide great resources for young students. We must fight for the battle of the mind not simply retreat. I also agree with the above posts that by pulling our children out of the public schools we will be giving up on the lost. However, if we are going to leave our children in this environment we must train them in apologetics. If we do not do this our young people are going to struggle to overturn the influence of humanism that their lost friends are hearing. There are three options here: 1.) leave your children in public schools and provide them with no discernment or apologetics training. This is the worst option. 2). Pull all Christian students from public schools. Though this protects them from humanism, this option is not our best choice. Also, this option is easier than the best option. But Christ never said that what is best for us would be easy. 3.) Leave our students in public schools but teach them apologetics and discernment. Churches and families must instill this in the children from a young age. We have allowed this problem to go unaddressed to long. It is time for churches and Christian parents to teach their children apologetics. If you are looking for some great information for young people I would suggest looking at the following resources: www.josh.org and www.leestrobel.com. Also, if you have students preparing to leave for college or are already in college here is a great resource: www.ratiochristi.org. If you are a parent who is looking for help in this area please feel free to contact me about this (bhelms@ratiochristi.org). This is an area that I am passionate about and would to help you in finding resources to help you and your children.

Someone tell me what is taught in our public schools that isn't taught in Christian colleges and universities. Evolution is taught in every Christian college biology class, common descent in every Christian university anthropology class, and in every psychology class in the Christian academic community students are taught that homosexuality is NOT a choice. Parents who attempt so shelter their children from these things by keeping them out of public schools are only kidding themselves. Once a Christian child enters college there's about an 80 per cent chance they will reject their faith by the time they graduate. This happens when they realize they've been hoodwinked by their undereducated and overly superstitious parents.

Wow, it is kind of hard to be salt and light at home with mom all day. Salt keeps things from spoiling and light helps us see where we are going and exposes what is false and brings things to the light. In the late 60s and early 70s the legal system took prayer out of public schools, so the Christians took their kids out and put them in private schools. Then the private schools weren't good enough, so we started homeschooling. The statistics that say 80% of kids drop their faith in college is a fairly recent one. Being recent it falls into this time frame where we have pulled out of the public schools. Even the Christian and home school kids are abandoning their faith. The issue isn't where we education our kids, but how we parent them. Problem with us Christians is we run from the challenges and we refuse to be salt that preserves and we refuse to be the light that exposes. Public schools are what they are because there is no salt or light. It isn't the courts fault or the governments fault, it is our fault. Recently I got elected to my local public school board and even more recently was elected board president and dude am I learning first hand what it means to be salt and light. My influence and how God is using me is humbling. In your blog you mention all the hrs a kid is in school and how few they are at home in comparison. As I read that, it really impressed me that with that being true, we need to be compelled to take back our schools. Also, if we are going to reach each generation for Christ, then what better place to reach them than the school. The humanists have figured it out, the devil has figured it out and we are running the other way. Every kid in every town can be found one place, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day. And if we are committed to being salt and light and committed to evangelism there is no way we can ignore the school. To ignore the school would be like going fishing and waiting for the fish to jump in the boat, won't happen. The school is the single place we can get at every kid in our community, and if you reach the kids you reach the parents. The school is the one single place you can go and be swarmed with fish.

"A prayer in a public school! God has no place within these walls, just like facts have no place within organized religion." - Superintendent Chalmers (The Simpsons)

We don't send recruits to the front line until their training is complete and they've proved themselves ready for battle. My kids are not ready to be salt and light to adults who are vindictive and repulsed by the truth of scripture. Its hard enough to deal with lost family members (esp. grandparents) who question modesty and honesty. That's already asking alot of a young lamb. Kids from previous generations didn't grow up expecting opposition to their family's faith from grandparents, school teachers, PRESIDENTS.