In a few days the new school year will begin. This is a busy time for parents, teachers, and administrators, but in the midst of back-to-school preparations it is important – even now – to stop momentarily and ask ourselves what we most want to achieve in the education of our children.

Is it academics? Character building? Safety? Universal on-line access? Here at Woodcrest, we recently hosted a gathering of educators from both the Kingston and New Paltz NY districts. We had no agenda other than to bat around these topics, and to listen to what our guests had to say. Not surprisingly, almost everyone agreed on one thing: that the importance of a strong academic curriculum aside, we cannot neglect the moral education of our children.

“Values” means many things to many people, but we all want our children to be respected members of society when they grow up. And what does it mean to be a good citizen if not a person who is honest, hard-working, trustworthy, and compassionate? We agreed that civics classes are not the best way to convey these things, and that as teachers – and as parents – we can lead and teach only by example.

We also talked about how vital it is to pass on a living faith in God to our children. How to do this in a public school setting that frowns on religion may at first seem impossible, but as many teachers attested, God is alive and well in our schools, and his love can work in the lives of children even if He is not expressly named or outwardly acknowledged.

Children often have a greater faith than we grown-ups might think: I am reminded of Cassie Bernall, the 17-year-old who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, and who paid for her bold affirmation of God’s existence with her life. (Surviving classmates recounted how one of the masked gunmen stopped by Cassie and asked her if she believed in God. She said "yes" and was shot and killed.) Cassie died young, but her life was not in vain. Her faith was clearly more than words, and gave her the strength not only to live but to die. Her story can help us teach our children that it is not important how long we live, but how we live.

In a world falling apart, children almost always seem to get the short end of the stick. They suffer when parents separate, when factories close, when healthcare benefits dry up, and when they are assaulted – as they are on a daily basis – by a culture reeking with sin and moral decay. But as Steve James, a friend and missionary doctor visiting from Haiti, pointed out to us, there is another power – the love of God – that can transform the most difficult situations. How to unleash this power on our children is something each of us need to think about, but I believe Steve is right: If we can make just one child feel loved, we are on our way to properly educating that child. And as the old Hasidic saying goes, "If you save one child, you save the whole world."

Wishing you a good school year,

Johann Christoph Arnold

 

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Responses

Thank you for a timely and relevant article.  As we work every day to teach our children the values of honesty, hard work,  &, compassion it's inspiring to know you are all doing it on the top side of the world as well.  Here in the Australian public schools the race to keep up technologically is taking it's toll on the teacher's and children.  One wishes for our children that instead of a "laptop for every student"  they would be taught the age-old skills of good honest research,  hands-on science,  & reading and Math skills so necessary in today's world.  Of course, service to others is the most important of all.
Cheers and have a great autumn!

Steve Decker
Tamworth, Austrailia