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When God Abandons the Public Schools
- 04/23/10
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Yesterday morning I was in despair. In the morning paper I had read about a new health curriculum that was to be introduced to the public schools here in Ontario. Beginning next school year, students were to receive a thorough indoctrination in sex education. And as you probably know, my wife and I have chosen to enroll our kids in public schools. We were despairing, wondering how we would deal with this new reality. Would this be the last straw, the situation that would force us to consider alternatives? Would this be a one-day program for which we could easily withdraw our children from school? Or would it be something they would be taught over the course of the entire year? Questions abounded; answers were few.
The current health curriculum in Ontario was put into place twelve years ago, I believe, and to this point (my oldest child is in fourth grade) has proven entirely unremarkable. As Christian parents whose children are in public schools, this is the one area we watch out for more than any other—the one area where we feel most protective of our children. We want our children to know what is right and what is wrong when it comes to sexuality, but we want them to know at a proper time and in a proper way. Currently by fourth grade the most a child will have learned at school is very rudimentary knowledge of what constitutes sexual abuse and how to respond should he or she experience it (i.e. tell your mom and dad).
All that was to change with the new curriculum. Under this new agenda children in third grade were to learn about gender identity (your identity may be different than your physical gender, it seems) and they were to learn that criticizing homosexuality was no different than discriminating against those with physical disabilities. They were to learn that many children have two mommies or two daddies and that they should use inclusive language such as “partner” rather than “husband” or “wife” in order not to exclude anybody. By sixth grade children were to be taught that masturbation is normal and a good way of exploring the body. By seventh grade they would be taught that they need to talk to their sexual partners about good boundaries and they were to learn that abstinence may mean different things to different people—for some it may mean excluding all sexual activity while for others it might exclude vaginal intercourse but include anal intercourse. All this was to be taught to children in seventh grade and younger. As I said, I was in despair.
We love the school our children go to and love the children of that school. We respect the teachers and have seen that they labor to provide the children with a good education. Aileen and I have been thoughtful and prayerful in placing our children in this school and in leaving them there. Every year we evaluate and every year (so far) we’ve had a clear conscience in allowing them to continue. But we did not know if we could say the same with such a program in place.
This new curriculum was silently posted online in January. It was not until a few days ago that a Christian organization found it and introduced it to the media. It really only hit the papers yesterday and the day before. Skeptical Canadian that I am, I expected no government response and certainly no backing down. But, like the government, I underestimated the response. It was not only Christians who were outraged; the Catholic school boards protested, daring the government to force them to teach it; Muslim groups protested, saying that the government has no right to teach such things to their children; even teachers wanted nothing to do with it—their job is difficult enough without having to teach deviant sexual behavior (a friend who is a primary school teacher suggested that most teachers wouldn’t teach it even if it was part of the curriculum).
And just like that, the government backed down. The curriculum has been scrapped, at least for next year, while it undergoes a thorough re-evaluation. The government has learned a harsh lesson—Ontario is perhaps a bit more conservative than they might have guessed. When they next seek to update this curriculum, they will do so without hiding it and with the cooperation of the public.
Aileen and I are rejoicing in this. As I read of this small triumph, I thought of Abraham interceding for the city of Sodom (Genesis 18). For the sake of his people within the city, God relented from the disaster he was going to bring upon them. Certainly Ontario is deserving of this kind of a curriculum, one that will draw hearts farther and farther from the One who created them. This nation, this province, is living on borrowed grace, practically begging God for punishment. And yet here God has extended his mercy, at least for another day and another year. For a day it seemed like God had abandoned the public schools in my province. But that despair has turned to hope and, better still, to praise.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (55)
Tim,Though I have a different perspective than you regarding the merits of homeschooling versus public education, I applaud the perspective you shared here.Thanks for reminding us of God’s goodness in not giving us what we deserve, even through government programs that seem increasingly untethered from a found moral foundation.Dave
What wonderful and heartening news!
I mean to post this comment right away, but got distracted.
Please (please!) don’t use this as a forum to debate the merits of homeschooling and public schooling (and every other kind of schooling). I hope to write more about public schooling vs home schooling in the future. We can talk about that then!
“When they next seek to update this curriculum, they will do so without hiding it and with the cooperation of the public.”
Don’t count on it. They will counter with worse material and more deceptively, if they can.
There are no words to describe how your post has encouraged me today. Thank you.
I understand not wanting to make this a homeschool vs public school debate, and I’m not asking this in the contest of trying to start a debate.
However, I’m confused about your concluding paragraph.
You liken your situation to Sodom and Gomorrah. I certainly agree that the public school system is comparable.
However, God only relented until he pulled those who were righteous out of the city (school system). In Lot’s case, it took a lot of pulling!
Finally, though Lot was righteous (2 Pet 2:7) it seems he was where he shouldn’t be in the first place.
This would seem to conclude that you are perhaps considering pulling out of “Sodom.” Or perhaps you are considering that keeping your children in school is somehow delaying God’s judgment.
I’m not trying to put words in your mouth at all, just trying to understand your analogy in the final paragraph.
Great news Tim! Wow- I was despairing as I read and what a wonderful ending to a tragic beginning. Praise God that common grace and general understanding of indecency helped people rise up!
As an American public school teacher (7th grade), I couldn’t agree more with you on this. Honestly, it is the part of the job that really disgusts me. Thankfully our programs are still abstinence only at our school, but there has been that push and pressure to succumb to the “morality” of today’s world in the programs we present. I pray that your children stand firm in their Christian understanding of sexuality and that THEIR light may shine on others in that school to help teach them Godly understandings of sexuality and ultimately lead others to Christ. Our public schools are in such need of bold, compassionate Christian students.
Thank you Lord that the government listened to its people!
Yet it’s not what they say they’re going to teach that is most concerning. It’s what they don’t announce they will teach and yet do it anyway! Then one day your child comes home and it’s too late, the damage has been done.
Tim, I respect your request not to turn this into a home school issue, yet can I at least say I think everyone understands this issue speaks directly to why parents do homeschool.
As a fellow Ontarian I agree with you… we are living on borrowed time as they say. From a moral perspective, Sodom looks like Little House on the Prairie in comparison to what the Greater Toronto Area has become.
Hi Tim,I didn’t mean to divert the conversation to homeschooling. I wanted to underscore my agreement with your wise perspective on God’s common grace revealed in the public school situation you described.Apologies if my awkward comment contributed to a detour.Dave
God is good isn’t He Tim?
Glad to see a tragic story turn into a hopeful one.
I wonder what you would want taught regarding the fact that there are other people in the world that don’t walk like you, talk like you, or act like you. There are students with two mommies or two daddies. There are children that don’t fit the gender stereotypes.
Of course there is a pull to teach everything is OK and there is a pull in the opposite direction. Should the children be left to figure it out on their own? Can the students be taught anything without offending either side? Do you have a solution to propose?
Tim,Thank you for this thoughtful post. It’s so obvious that the whole of creation is groaning in anticipation… and schools are no exception. We are all longing for redemption!
I once saw a bumper sticker in Austin “Don’t pray in my school and I won’t think in your church.” Wow. Thoughts here: http://ow.ly/1CfHC
“I hope to write more about public schooling vs home schooling in the future. We can talk about that then!”
Make it the near future. :) We are struggling mightily with the decision for our daughter starting school this year, but more or less settled on homeschool. However, it’s not too late for a course change.
That all sounds very nice but like some other commenters I can only assume that this victory is but a small setback in the inexorable movement to finish turning public schools into the prime agent of social engineering. There are never any victories that move the tide back, only small delays. Without jumping on my soapbox, I would strongly reconsider your educational choices for your children now more than ever rather than waiting for it to become intolerable.
Hi Tim,
I’m very encouraged by this post. As another Christian who has chosen to public school their children, I am glad to see that when parents are involved in the public schools—praying for the students/teachers/administrators, and know their children’s teachers, good things can come from less than ideal circumstances.
I look forward to your upcoming discussion of homeschooling and public schooling.
Blessings,mike d.
Our two oldest grandchildren are in a public school in Ontario, and we are also very thankful…and relieved!
This is good news indeed.
Tim, if you have teachers and a school that point kids back to their parents regarding their safety from sexual abuse, you are blessed. In our experience, there was an obvious agenda to drive the kids back to the teachers and school professionals whenever there were concerns.
VCDECHAGN,
I agree that the author’s analogy in the last paragraph is confusing. God told Abraham that he wouldn’t destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if there were just 10 righteous people found there. And Lot’s family didn’t even have that many. We know from 2 Peter 2:8 that Lot was a righteous man (not of himself) and that his soul was vexed by the deeds of the inhabitants of Sodom. So, yes, he was somewhere that he shouldn’t have been, as you stated. And, sadly, the last thing we read about him in the Old Testament is his incestuous relationships with his daughters. Not a good ending.
Tim
I attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville as an education major 30 years ago. In our coursework on teaching sex education in the classroom, we were told that we must have two sets of records regarding material covered - one set to send home for the parents, one for our own records to outline what we actually covered in class. As our instructor explained, “Many parents might object to what we teach, so it’s just better not to tell them. Tell them something that won’t upset them.”
That was 30 years ago, in the state university of a southern (U.S.), “conservative” state. I was absolutely appalled at the blatant deception that future educators were being encouraged - even pressured - to practice. That particular class was one of two that led me to abandon my pursuit of an education degree and to later choose something than public education for my own children.
I am confident - despite official statements, curriculum changes, and public retractions - that the deception now is no less deliberate, no less pervasive than 30 years ago. I would caution parents to be very careful where their confidence lies….this is not a time to feel relieved.
Camille, you prove the very thing I was concerned about in my above comment. It’s not what they tell you they are teaching your kids, it’s what they don’t tell you about.
Tim, I’m in Ontario too. Interestingly, it was Christian circles who first voiced opposition to the new curriculum. When the Christians voiced their opposition the premier was remarkably insistent that the curriculum would go ahead as planned. It wasn’t until the Muslims joined the protest that the Ontario govt became weak-kneed.
Bear with my intro, as it gets to the schooling issue soon enough…
I want to add that while I am an American, I am a citizen of heaven first, and that is where my allegiance lies. So this is not a nationalistic rant but a reflection on what results from surrendering freedoms.
Many people in other countries failed to understand why such a vast throng of people in America protested strongly against socialized medicine and the U.S. government attempt to step into that means of control.
The truth is, when the government controls health care, it effectively controls everything else about a people. I have long contended that should we see a physical mark of the beast in our lifetimes, the mark will be sold as a health care initiative.
This also has a chilling effect on freedom of religion, as has been seen in Canada and elsewhere when Christians protest against indoctrination into the homosexual agenda or other ungodly initiatives. Because so many freedoms have been surrendered away to government oversight and control, the government can act as it wishes, regardless of what the people think.
So it should come as no surprise that agreeing to socialism leads to outcomes in which the heavy-handed government steps in and says, “Because we give you _______, you must accept _______.” It’s inevitable because self-determination of a people cannot exist when they let government control everything.
Sadly for Canada, that self-determination has been surrendered. For this reason, the outcome is already written. It’s why folks like Mark Steyn and Hugh Owens ended up in court before what were effectively thought tribunals. (Sadly for America, we, too, are marching down that same pathway toward surrendering our freedoms because we want a nanny state.)
So while the victory against this PC sex ed program has been won for now, the government will not relent forever. Canadians have already given away too many freedoms for this to end any other way.
Let this be a lesson to Americans.
My son is in public school. We would prefer that he be homeschooled (which we cannot do because of health reasons) or in a private school (which we cannot afford). Fortunately for us, the school district is largely controlled by two large Baptist megachurches in town (by means of so many in the school district’s leadership attending those churches). For that reason, it will be a long time before we see similar issues in our local schools. That said, if America continues to go the way of Canada, it will happen whether we like it or not.
Tim,
In reading this post and two that it links to (A Naturalistic Worldview Pt. 1 & 2) I was wondering if you have ever read the book “The Long War Against God” by Henry Morris. If not, I highly recommend it. Morris figured out the real impact of a Naturalistic/Darwinian worldview a long time ago. Check it out at:
http://www.amazon.com/Long-War-Against-God-Evolution/dp/0890512914
- Ron
Thank you for this post Tim.
As Californian mom whose youngest is about to enter K, my husband and I have struggled over the education issue. There is a huge push to introduce ‘alternative lifestyle education’ to younger and younger children here (actually beginning in K). Legal precedent in MA states that not only is the school not obligated to tell me that they’ll be teaching this, but that I also have no right to pull my student from class while it’s being taught.
It’s disturbing to say the least. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on education as well.
You could let the parents decide what to teach to their children. Most of us aren’t neglectful.
@Chris Roberts
If you search Tim’s blog, he wrote about Home schooling and about his reasons for Public a few years ago.. in one of the comments to one of those posts contained what i believe is the best advice of all:
it was something like:
“One child at a time, One school at a time, One year at a time”
that’s what we have done with our little ones. We have them in a small Christian private school for Pre and K and we are taking it one year at a time… each kid is different, each school is different, each year might produce different challenges. What’s best for our kids? What’s best for the Gospel?
Thanks for posting this, Tim. It’s good to keep up with what’s going on in Ontario, since I was in public school there myself, once.
Now our children are in schools in another country, and we too face the year by year challenge - should we continue? What’s being taught? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
It’s very interesting to see what’s happening with schools in Ontario and other parts of Canada. Those in charge have incredible challenges to face, and need our prayers.
“One child at a time, One school at a time, One year at a time”
There’s a challenge in that. In my educational past I went through different phases of school: private, public, home, public. On the whole, making changes like that was not good. Also, my sisters and I weren’t always doing the same thing, which created its own quirks. So going in I told my wife I wanted to decide what we would do with all the kids and stick with it. If we need to change direction later on we will, but the idea is we will stay on the path we pick.
Chris - i’m glad you clarified that. I *completely* agree with you. we decided we would choose the best option for our own kids, based on the school options available, knowing our own children, and what Scripture has to say about how we raise our children… and then stick to that path, …unless something changes. And, that’s how i read the “one year at a time.” For me, it meant being willing to change directions *if* circumstances change and we feel it’s best for our child.
Great news!!
That is great news indeed!
As a 6th grade public school teacher in California, I can testify that it is true that teachers teach what they want to, and leave out what they want to in all areas of curriculum. I leave out areas that do not align with the truth I know. I also feel free to point out blatant errors in the science texts (evolution related). Teach kids logic, right?
I praise God for the Christian students I have had in my classes, since I can ask questions, and they can answer them giving their peers a more full explanation of the truth!
I would also put my kids in public schools… they just aren’t old enough yet. :)
Thanks for this post!
This is very interesting, Although to be honest, I don’t think what kids learn from their teachers affects them as much as what they learn from each other. Abstinence-only education may be slightly beneficial, but compared to the powerful influence of popular culture and their peers, it has a pretty minimal impact on the choices kids make, in my opinion. I grew up homeschooled, and my own observation of public schooled kids is that peer influence is the most powerful force in their lives and no amount of good teaching can really counteract that. Most of them don’t listen to their teachers.To sum it up, keeping morally perverted curriculum out of schools is a good thing, but if kids are already learning garbage from their peers and from TV, it’s not going to make much of a difference.
It’s certainly great to see salt applied and a slowing of the ongoing decline in public schools.
Still though, it’s sad that we have reached such a point that we view “education” in such a way that stopping one component of wickedness in an overall godless worldview system of education is actual victory. We’re called to disciple our kids, not put them in a place where the highest accomplishment is getting the school from teaching outright debauchery in one subject area. I just don’t get how parents think this is an actual spiritual accomplishment in the true scheme of things.
It’s not just the “bad” stuff our children get when spending 9000 seat hours in a public school (K-8th) grade, it’s the lost opportunity for proactive discipleship that’s the real loss.
Keep watch, Tim. Often a program like this will be introduced. The public will get up in arms, a fight ensues. It gets shot down.
Then everybody walks away, thinking themselves victorious.
Meanwhile, the program is quietly introduced while nobody is watching. Sometimes in whole, sometimes piece by piece. Within a year or two, it will be in full effect.
Be vigilant.
Alex made an interesting observation; “It wasn’t until the Muslims joined the protest that the Ontario govt became weak-kneed.”
I live in Australia - once upon a time if a RC made a protest then the government of teh day would take notice (not a protestant protest though). Methinks we would see a similar governmental change here in Australia as well. when the muslims protest…..
Whatever you make of that I’m not sure. When all is said and done though - God through Jesus is building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!
_____________
Here is Australia the battle line are drawn (so to speak) between having Scripture taught and available in public schools (both RC and protestant) and the alternative of a secular ethics course. Currently the situation is that RE is taught by visiting protestant and RC scripture teachers. (Yes - in a public school!)
Actually Tim - your title says ” When God Abandons Public Schools” - I’m not sure He has. He will work His purposes out, despite satan seemingly having a victory. Once thing though is that He will never abandon His people….
we have three children in public school, one in high, one in middile, and one in elementary. we constantly are watching, praying, and trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us… and we have seen His hand work in our lives and our children’s lives so many times to give us peace and joy through our decisions.
i will say that i have learned to TRUST God in so many different ways by having my children in public school. i have learned to PRAY continually and had many chances to see direct answers to prayers. and i have learned to LOVE others, love those teachers who were Christians and many teachers who weren’t, love other parents and many parents that i never would have known had it not been for the melting pot that is public school. and LOVE children, children who come to school hungry, for food, for love, for a reason to live. we are to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have, and we have the Answer to give to so many.
i have learned how to really communicate with my children in a way that we might not have had to communicate were they in a different, more God-honoring environment. i cannot let a day go by without checking in with them. it keeps us all on our toes. always watching and alert for that roaring lion.
to God be the glory, great things He has done, is doing, and will do through the public schools. i believe that. i have lived it. and will continue to as long as He allows.
You should add a list of names of the people who were behind changing the curriculum to include this type of teaching and submit the entire article to you local newspaper.
This was a good read.
Ditto Tim Irvin. That would be good civic engagement.
Tim, I am glad you have been blessed thus far with a public school environment into which you can entrust your kids every day. May the Lord continue to have mercy.
Having recently been certified as an Ontario teacher, I can tell you that the way we ourselves (future teachers) are being indoctrinated is a scary scary reality. And I believe the fears many other commenters have expressed about the perversion of sexual “education” being “snuck” in to the curriculum are well-founded.
Ultimately, though, no matter what the “official” curriculum is, it ENTIRELY depends on your particular school and teacher(s).
Looking forward to more articles about public vs. private vs. home-schooling!
Tim,So glad to hear this!
Alex,
That is sad isn’t it. We are definitely living in a post-Christian world.
The ‘agenda’ to introduce such material will never completely cease. Too often the parents find out AFTER the fact, and then try to clean up what their children have been exposed to. The scariest things are the things spoken or taught by lost teachers that are not on paper so parents can’t anticipate it, and there are many things which children don’t immediately recognize as blatantly unbiblical.The public school system isn’t designed to accomodate a parents duty to teach and protect their children, this is why news stories (not to mention things only students know about) abound of things uncovered in public schools (and the reputation or income of a school doesn’t change those things).Though homeschooling is quite despised by the mainstream (no thanks to radical legalistic ‘homeschoolers’ who show no fruit of genuine conversion) , if it is done biblically, it’s quite impossible to argue that it’s not the safest solution.
Tim, as to addressing the issue of Public vs homeschooling do you really believe you can do so without an obvious bias? It wouldn’t be hard to make one look better then the other if you take extreme cases to make your case.May I suggest Voddie Baucham as a model for the homeschooling side, since you’ve mentioned his preaching before (who is clearly a sound Baptist and who was one who fought for the SBC to do mass exodus out of public schools).Blessings
About the title: God’s abandonment presumes God’s presence or His blessing. That is a big presumption. Where do you get the idea that God is present or blessing public education to begin with? God has promised to be in and with His Church. So it is possible for God to abandon a sinful, unrepentant local body - as the book of Revelation says, He will remove His candlestick if He must. But a school system?
Another thing: WHAT might be taught may have been averted. But the establishment that tried to incorporate this into the system is still there and is still waging war on the Gospel and the Truth. And, NO, I am NOT saying that every school teacher has bought into that. All I am saying is that the wicked and evil heart of those who would seek to have such things taught to children are the same wicked and evil hearts that are making every other decision and are influencing children - and to what end? toward what goal?
Not only Christians, but even Catholic school boards were outraged…Catholics are not Christians in Canada???!
No dear friend (Bob) Catholics (true Catholics) are NOT Christians. Christ was the final high priest, His sacrifice was once and for all (which excludes the ‘mass’). He alone is the only mediator between God and man (which excludes confession and penance). The word alone is the rule of faith (not the ever changing traditions of the church - and especially an antichrist pope who claims to speak infalliable truth). A few things which point out the Christ of the scriptures and that of the Catholic church are different indeed!
Oh, Julius, please, don’t start about what you THINK the Catholic Church teaches. We believe that Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all, and He is the great High Priest. Our earthly ministers are descended from the Apostles and do what Jesus told them to do when He breathed the Holy Spirit upon them, to “go and teach the Gospel” and to join the Last Supper through all time to “do this in remembrance of Me” - to present His Body and Blood. And “antichrist Pope” - double please! He teaches infallibly on faith and morals and only on those occasions that require it (once or twice per century). Read something written by Catholics about Catholicism, like, oh, I don’t know, the Catechism, and relieve your ignorance before you speak again!