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4 reasons I WOULD send my kid to Christian School

In UncategorizedTags Christian, christian school, kids, schoolApril 25, 2011109 Views9 Comments

Here are my reasons to send your kids to Christian School 1. Other Godly examples – One of the things I remember best from my years in Christian School was the teachers that taught me. Most …

4 reasons NOT to send your kids to Christian School.

In UncategorizedTags Christian, christian school, kids, ParentApril 25, 2011780 Views11 Comments

samluce

Here are my reasons why you shouldn’t send your kids to Christian school. 1. Price – Let’s face it. Money makes a difference. I don’t begrudge Christian Schools charging what they charge because they get no …

11 responses to “4 reasons NOT to send your kids to Christian School.”

Henry Zonio

April 25, 2011

Just like with homeschooling, I think that one other reason not to send your kids to Christian school is fear that public school will somehow corrupt your children.

Having gone to Christian school and taught at one, another reason not to send your kids to Christian school is that many Christian schools do not have the resources available to public schools. While I did go to Christian school when I was younger, I went to a public school from 8th grade on. I would've never had access to the educational experiences I did if I had been in a Christian school or homeschooled.

Florence

May 5, 2011

Thank you for writing this article.
I went to an all girls Catholic school and while our school chose to go against the norm and required us to study material that was controversial and many times morally wrong – many choose to avoid it all together. Because some of us attempted to lead moral lives – following in the footsteps of Jesus – we might not have had the exposure or experience to such subject matter in life or another Catholic/Christian school – for that matter.

I've even read about some schools that have chosen to remove Shakespeare or Poe from the curriculum for fear that the subject material may cause the kids to stumble. Seriously?

karl bastian

December 17, 2012

Blanket statements are always dangerous. It will always depend on the school. I was offered Christian school as a young boy, and I chose to stay in the public, as I wanted to have a ministry in the secular school – and started on campus bible studies and lead kids to Christ, but my sister did attend the Christian school, and benefited from it greatly. I think it depends on the school and the child. I think your concerns are valid, but there are also kids who have been lead astray from the faith in a secular school that could have gotten a biblical foundation in a Christian school. Our son is in a Christian school while he is young because I want him to get a solidly biblical world view while he is young, especially as it relates to science and history, though I’m not sure that I’ll keep him there all the way to 12th, for the reasons I wanted to be in secular in junior high and high school. I agree on the Gospel focus and access to educational resources. As with any topic, it will always come down to the needs of the child, and the evaluation of the specific school. Parents who fail to do that, are the ones who fail their children. Blanket conclusions about Christian schools in general I don’t think are helpful, as there are many Christian schools which are far better than the secular schools in the same neighborhood, and also secular schools that are far better than the Christian school in the same neighborhood. Parents need to make educated choices, not just go with the label of “Christian” or not, for there is a lot more to a child’s education than just Christianity, as central as that may be.

1. samluce
  
  December 19, 2012
  
  Karl I agree but would you not agree your statements about why you send your kids to Christian school are blanket statements as well. Just because a school called themselves a Christian school does not mean they are presenting a biblical world view often times it’s an inferior education accompanied by a lame chapel service. My point in this series was to challenge our assumptions that inform our decisions make the best decision we can for our kids through much prayer, council, research and just plain knowing our kids. In the end we have to trust God with our children’s future and be involved in their education.
  
cantputtalick

May 29, 2013

I will start by saying neat website to make points both for and against Christian schools, now as to Point 1. You use a failed gov. policy (tax code if person A has 2 kids person B has 3 kids and person C has no kids why do they share the cost of educating 5 kids) to promote a gov. education
Point 2.Some Christian schools don’t teach Jesus + Nothing else = My Redemption, how many public schools do? none in My area. Point 3. Parent capitulation in public schools is better? when a large portion believe that gov. is to feed breakfast, lunch for free and educate completely with no help from parents. Point 4 Is there fairness in public schools? A pastor’s kid would get a fair shake in a secular school. In closing I would agree that putting the words Private and Christian in your school name does not = no problems, but it goes back to Parent capitulation my kid is in a Christian school that is non denominational but is affiliated with the Church we attend so the 3 aspects of my child’s life are in agreement Home,Church and school

1. samluce
  
  June 4, 2013
  
  Cantputtalick,
  
  I appreciate your comment sorry it took me so long to respond. I agree with your points and understand how they could potentially be true of a specific school. My goal in this series of posts was to tackle the broader issues that I have observed. I went to a few different public and private schools growing up and what I wrote about were reasons I would hesitate sending my kids based on my experience with a few different christian schools from different parts of the country that I believe to demonstrate a trend if not a systemic problem.
  
Larry

July 15, 2014

Here is some evidenced based data for Christian schools from Dan Krause of Graceworks Ministries and work by secular researchers:

The profound opportunity of a Christian school is two-fold: (1) Students do far better academically in a Christian school, and (2) Students in a Christian school stay steadfast in their faith, even if they attend a secular college.

Stronger Academic Achievement. To resolve important questions in social science, meta-analysis studies are done. Meta-analyses are studies of studies. In the case of William Jeynes in Religion, Education, and Academic Success (above), 134 related academic research studies were analyzed together by statisticians at Harvard and the University of Chicago.

Jeynes’ critical conclusion is that all traditional academic achievement gap issues (income/race) go away in Christian schools in an intact family. In the case of a single parent, achievement gap losses are mitigated about half-way.

In other words, no one can credibly argue that people who receive financial aid are “holding back the class.” In fact, Jeynes attributes these achievement gap gains to the fact that religious schools will simply NOT lower their standards. Why are these achievement gaps overcome in Christian schools? Jeynes’ meta-analysis found four key reasons:

(1) More challenging curriculum / harder classes
(2) Higher expectations of student diligence
(3) Solid overall student work habits / learning habits
(4) Spiritual and moral emphases

Steadfast Faith. The greatest impact of a Christian school is the eternal one – students who remain faithful and church-attending after college – regardless of the college attended. The 8,000-pound gorilla in the room is the sobering fact that between 50-60% of our kids – church going, Sunday school / youth group attending – are no longer engage with a Christian church upon graduating from college. Five different researchers have found this percentage dropping out (or worse):

Formerly Active Twenty-Somethings No Longer Actively Involved in a Christian Church
Summary of Studies

Researcher Year Sample Size No Longer Church-Going
George Barna 2006 24,227 61%
Steve Henderson / Gary Railsback 2003 15,895 52-63%
Ken Ham 2009 1,000 89%
Ed Stetzer 2007 1,023 70%

While different researchers disagree on why church-going high schoolers no longer attend church after college, a persistent theme is lack of a personal relationship with God. Some of this research (Stetzer) suggests that some twenty-somethings will eventually return to the church, but there are no guarantees.

For church-going kids who attended Christian school, the number of “church-going drop-outs” is a fraction of that – less than 10% according to Josh McDowell. As you would expect, the number is also much lower for students who attend Protestant Christian colleges and universities. (Only about 20% of Christian families are able to choose this option, however.)

So what is the opportunity of a Christian education? Graduates of Christian schools are far better prepared academically, and for the lower income groups are 2-3 times more likely to graduate from college. And our graduates keep the faith, even in secular universities. Both academically and spiritually, we can send our children to the finest colleges and universities in the country – with confidence.

The profound opportunity of a Christian school is two-fold: (1) Students do far better academically in a Christian school, and (2) Students in a Christian school stay steadfast in their faith, even if they attend a secular college.

1. Peg
  
  August 8, 2017
  
  Amen. Check out the Cardus Study and the impact of Christian Schools.
  All three of our children attended excellent Christian Schools. All three were ahead of their peers in college, but more importantly, they were well prepared spiritually and could articulate their faith. Regarding resources…it depends on the Christian School.
  
  I’ve dedicated my life to Christian School education-almost 40 years. I have witnessed more faculty dedication, academic excellence, compassion and individual attention than I ever witnessed as a public school teacher in my early years. There is so much more I could say, but I’ll stop.
  
  I agree with Larry – the facts speak so much louder than the opinions.
  
Betty (Taylor) Voskamp

March 10, 2021

Year ago my x-husband told him Canadians did not go to church. He found out my parents and I did and my ancestors.. We send our adult children to Christian School . They did not teach the Holy Spirit guiding them. The words were horrible what the children said. One was the S word by adults too. One was beaten up on the Christian school bus and the the parents were not told and they were rich. I was looked down as a Canadian. I hate It was called the Dutch school and church. I hated it if you aint Dutch you were not much. We freed their country. I see no difference in the adult children. My grandchildren are going to a public and Catholic School. A lot of people are doing it too. One grandson could not come because he was Austism and they demanded a lot of money. I am almost in tears how I was treated as a Canadian. I went to the Anglican church and loved it. I will say no more. Nothing will change.

Robyn Schmalz

October 9, 2021

You certainly are a pastor’s kid, that’s obvious by your whining. Placing kids into public school, where they’re taught race hate and anti-God evolution does not prepare kids for their future. That nonsense puts a personal and living God as far away from kids as possible. Perhaps you should understand how mentally damaging public schools are to kids and that radical public teacher unions mean to ramrod self-hate and doubt down the throats of American children as a mode by which to rob America of patriotism, God, a family-centered
cohesive national identity and basic character. Pastors’ kids who grew up in church and church schools have no clue how terribly lost kids are who are raised in and BY public schools. It’s horrible to walk around in life with nothing but questions. There’s a reason we’ve been seeing nihilists burning the streets of left-wing cities and watching kids vandalize their own public schools simply because they are being prompted to by the Communist Chinese thousands of miles away, who run Tic Toc social media.
I’m sorry that you think public school is some kind of answer to what you perceived as failings and slights by Christian schools. Our son benefitted greatly by matticulating through Christian education. Unlike you, he has never felt a need to protest against his Christian upbringing or Christian schooling.

1. samluce
  
  October 21, 2021
  
  Did you read my post about why you should go to Christian School. Given your ability to assume the worst of me without an ounce of curiosity I would say no. Assuming things about people that aren’t true like you have done is the vary thing the people you hate so often do. Perhaps you should ask if I went to Christian school if I went to public school and how I benefited from both. I’m thankful your son has done well.
  
  This is not me whining but telling you that your tone towards another believer is far from Christlike.

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