I don’t have kids and wont for at least a couple years (*fingers crossed). However, my wife and I have began to contemplate our children’s education and have considered homeschooling as a likely scenario, based on our interpretation of the Bible. The recent ban on homeschooling in California and the restrictions in other parts of the world have got me thinking about what the Christian response to homeschooling bans should be.
Is the right and duty to raise Godly children one of those places where a Christian is required to make a stand against the government? Is this an area where God’s law trumps man’s law?
Some Biblical Support
First of all, I do not see the bible approaching this issue directly. Unfortunately, that makes things more speculative, and requires us to rely a bit more on interpretation. Even still, let’s consider a few passages from the Bible* that could be used to answer this question.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children (Isaiah 54:13).
Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.” (Jeremiah 10:2)
It is obviously critical that Children be instructed in both the fundamentals of salvation and secondly in Godly lifestyle. Unlike some Christians, I maintain that public schooling is not inherently evil - and it is (in many cases, but not all) a valid supplement to Godly education. Public school, however, should not be substituted for the necessary and commanded instruction that the parents are responsible for. Biblical education by the parents (both fathers and mothers) is a clear requirement in the bible.
Based on the passages, Christian parents are clearly accountable for their children’s education first - not the church, not the community and not the government.
The Nature of the Ban Dictates the Response
But let’s consider the nature of the ban, so that we can gauge the nature of the Christian response.
The Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles had ruled on Feb. 28 that parents must have a teaching credential to homeschool their children. Otherwise, children ages 6 to 18 must attend public or private school full-time until graduation from high school.
The court is arguing, contrary to the bible, that not only are parents not required to instruct their children, but that they are unqualified and criminals if they do so. Takes this idea to it’s logical end: if a Christian parent (who does not meet the state of California’s standards) schools their children full time, then she will be fined or thrown in jail.
The state apparatus has clearly inserted itself between the biblical duties of parents and the commands of God. The state is attempting to supplant God’s commandments with their own. It is one thing to have secular public education as an option - it is another to make it mandatory under threat of force.
This law then, should have no effect on Christians, who should continue to raise their kids as the bible instructs. Imprisonment and fines are not valid reasons to cease doing what God has clearly instructed as an essential role of parenting.
Obviously there are still many areas where this ban does not conflict. Christian parents are not required by the bible to provide all formal schooling. However, formal schooling is not to supplant biblical schooling - it is secondary. This ban on homeschooling (depending on enforcement) is restrictive of the parent’s biblical duty. Thus, American Christians now have a great opportunity to suffer for the sake of the gospel. As Paul wrote, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).
Christians (especially in modern America, where religion, tradition and state are so heavily mixed together) must remember that the government is not God and does not have authority to supplant God. The government is not our master and we are commanded not to submit to laws which are contrary to the Bible.
*All citations NKJV
There is no ban. There is one ruling by one court that will likely be overturned and which the state has made clear will not affect homeschooling. There’s a lot of misunderstanding around this issue, a lot of news sites that seem to be promoting that misunderstanding and we all need to do our own research on this to ensure we know what’s really going on.
Dawn, until such a point that the state or a higher court steps in and changes the law, as it currently stands, I wouldn’t be able to homeschool my kids in California, correct?
I should point out that I don’t have a teacher’s license.
Dawn, your pragmatics may be correct, but as Darius mentioned, the law currently stands to ban parents from homeschooling their children. This is not acceptable, regardless of what may or may not happen.
Wow. I’m thinking about homeschooling my daughter, or perhaps hiring a teacher to do it when she is old enough. I hope this trend doesn’t spread, but since we’re inching towards fascism…
To be fair, that IS California we’re talking about. Many states are actually doing the opposite, inching towards MORE educational options and freer homeschooling.
Ok, am I missing something? Colin, on the one hand you say that “there are many areas where this ban does not conflict” and that you “maintain that public schooling is not inherently evil - and it is (in many cases, but not all) a valid supplement to Godly education.”
So why, then, do you say “Imprisonment and fines are not valid reasons to cease doing what God has clearly instructed as an essential role of parenting.”?
In theory at least, why couldn’t all Christians send their children to public or private accredited schools and then do the obvious–give them their necessary (and commanded by God) Biblical education outside of normal school hours?
Now, I know there are lots of reasons people home school their kids, but in this article you only seem to be focusing on the fact that we believers are to instruct our children about God and our faith. Unless you take the “hot house” approach to education–where you don’t let your kids get near an unbeliever– then I don’t see a conflict with children of Christians attending public school while getting their Christian education at home.
n.b. I’m not, for the moment, talking about other reasons for homeschooling such as a child’s illness or disability, the parents live an itinerant lifestyle, the local schools might be physically dangerous, the local schools might be too low performing, the local schools might not offer enough electives, etc. I’m only talking about the fact that–so far–the government has not made it against the law for us to teach our children at home and at church about God.
For the record, I did not home school my children, though I was very involved in their public school education and I did a lot of “home schooling” with their homework and their Christian education. I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but I see home schooling in many cases as elitist, and that worries me a little. Yes, it is great for the children whose parents are educated enough themselves to teach their children, who have the financial resources so that both parents don’t have to work, and who have the personality to be able to do the teaching every day. But that begs the question: what about the kids who don’t have that? Also, I think some homeschooling Christian families look down their noses at families who don’t home school, like “oh, you’re ruining your children!” Like I said, that opinion may not be too popular with many of you who were home schooled yourselves or who now home school.
Back to the California ban. I’d like to know the reasons for the ban. Do they have hard facts about home schooled children who have done poorly on standardized tests?
And to close this too-long-already post, I have a little personal anecdote to share. I started to home school my oldest child when we lived overseas. I had a college degree, but no training in education. I was told to use the phonics method to teach my 4 year old to read, so I tried. After two weeks, I was entirely convinced that my son was retarded because he could not do “ba be bi bo bu.” I was in tears, blah, blah. Well, this child ended up getting an advanced degree from Harvard, so he wasn’t actually retarded, but at the time I did not know that not all children can learn to read by the same method. Once we started holding up flashcards that said “airplane” he learned how to read just fine. This is something a trained teacher would know, but not necessarily any old mother like me.
Thainamu, thanks for the detailed post. I think you answer what I would say here:
In the case of my kids, there may not be a conflict. But there are many instances of all kinds where a Christian parent would need to keep their children at home. The law would seem to ban that. This is not a law Christians are obligated to comply with.
Surely formal public education and education about God need not conflict. However, laws like this one set up public schooling as a monopoly on education (that is their primary function) - this is not biblically acceptable. However, as Christians, it is not really our job to be social advocates for effecting public schools - but we are to resist the government infringing on our obligation to practice our biblical duties to our children.
This law (along with compulsory schooling laws) will have that effect for some parents.