Politics Page - Whose Child is This?

To whom does your child belong? I suppose you will think this is a silly question. No doubt, you think it’s a forgone conclusion that your offspring belong to those who beget, care for, educate, prepare for adulthood and love. Makes sense, doesn’t it-so why should I ask such a foolish question?

All right. Let me ask you another question: with whom do most children spend most of their wakeful hours, who feeds them their lunch (and even breakfast in some instances), who directs their education, who is preparing them for adulthood, and whom do they perceive loves them as well as mommy and daddy? Don’t answer those questions! I’ve another for you. Does all this answer the question: "Whose child is this"?

Harking back to an Old Testament story (Genesis 33:5) we read about an encounter between Jacob and his brother Esau. They haven’t seen each other in years. Esau is astonished at the great multitude gathered before him. "And he lifted up his eyes , and saw the women and children; and said, ‘Who are those with you?’ And Jacob said, ‘The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.’" The state may not know to whom children belong but Jacob didn’t have any trouble at all answering the question "whose children are these"? Children are a gift from God. We are simply stewards of these gifts until they reach adulthood when we return them back to God's care.

Then, how did the following come about? If parents don’t send their children to school or, possibly, provide for their education, what happens? You may not have thought about this, but the civil authorities must obey a law called "the compulsory attendance law" which means parents are compelled by that law to send their child to school-the school of the state’s choice! Home schoolers have been tried by that law numerous times! Here’s another question: who chooses what children will learn in these government controlled schools? Parents, of course! Or do they? Whose children are they?

For over one hundred years the government (local, state, and [more recently] the federal government of these United States) has labored to educate children. Who educated them previous to that period for over 200 years? And why? A bit of research reveals that, first, parents; secondly, those hired by parents to teach in the home or a local small school house; thirdly, the church was looked to as a help in this matter. In Deuteronomy 6:7 God says, "Thou shalt teach (his precepts) diligently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk of them" all day long! That doesn’t leave much time for folks other than mommy and daddy! Let’s see: from 1620, the era of the Pilgrims, up to and including the era just previous to the Civil War there were no civil governmental laws that required parents to educate their children. Whose children are they? The argument is answered --however-- let’s see what has happened in the last one hundred years.

Notice, parents are now required by the state to send "the children given them" to the state school. First, our taxes were required to subsidize "schools;" then, the government took oversight of the training of teachers (accreditation); soon, "schooling" became mandatory; next came the control of text books; and, lastly (I must add), with these came the degrading of education to the point of non-education.

So, now, whose children are they?

When a child comes home from school with ideas like, "I can think for myself-I don’t have to listen to Mom or Dad," or "My parents don’t know much; not nearly as much as my teachers--or me," or "Why should I believe in what my parents have told me," (or, even worse, when a child can be taken from school for an abortion without the parents knowledge) whose children are they?

Julia Attaway of Washington Heights made the home-schooling decision because the first of her four children was reading chapter books and counting to 100 by seven before kindergarten.... "It was so obvious that school was not going to work."

The top three motivations for home schooling in the survey were the prospect of a better education (49 percent), religious beliefs (38 percent) and a poor learning environment in the schools (26 percent).... The success of home schooling is hard to determine. Some Ivy League admissions officers say home-schooled children have high SAT scores and adjust well to the demands of college. These admission officers also are impressed by accounts of prodigious accomplishments: A family with three home-schooled children at Harvard. A youngster with a best-selling novel. First, second and third second place in the 2000 National Spelling Bee....

In the debate about home schooling, socialization is more of an issue than achievement. Dr. Belfield said there was no research in this area but much anecdotal evidence that home-schooled children had plenty of social contact, benefited from being outside the dog-eat-dog world of school and were kinder to one another as a result....

So, take heart, ye who home school. Because you really know to whom your children belong, those compliments belong to you. You’re in a class with Jacob who said, "(These are) the children which God hath given thy servant," plus you have the blessing of the Lord of Education! Psalm 127:3 & 5 "Lo, Children are the heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.... Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."

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Posted 04/07/2004 by gh777p@yahoo.com

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Almost all articles on the website are written by Dorothy E. Robbins, the Website host unless otherwise noted - good Question.

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