I just watched a documentary online called "Divided" about the overwhelming failure of age-segregated ministry in North American churches. I encourage you to take an hour of your time and watch it as well: http://www.dividedthemovie.com
What struck me the most, as an educator, was that the church has the same ultimate complaint/frustration that the secular education system has:
Why are we (school, church, teachers, pastors) expected to raise kids instead of their parents? How can we get parents to take responsibility for their family again?
Every teacher I have spoken to (myself included) will have one immediate answer to the question, What's the hardest part of your job?
The parents.
Hands down, the worst, hardest, most frustrating and challenging part of a teacher's job is the parents of their students.
How do I get them involved? How can I support them? How can I help them? How can I get them to see their child for the precious gift they are? On, and on.
Any and every teacher will tell you, a child will not improve substantially until the family gets on board. The family is the key.
Yes, this is a massive responsibility but it cannot be gotten away from. It is undeniably true that the family is the building block of society. The "health" of our communities, societies and the world as a whole is a direct mirror of the "health" of our families.
So why do we keep putting institutions in the place of the family?
I have many questions I plan to investigate further after watching this film:
What does the Bible say about age-segregated ministry and education?
What does the Bible say about educators/ministry workers role in supporting the family?
How can I do a better job of training, supporting and discipling the families I am in contact with?
3 comments:
So here's the deal. I don't understand the whole culture that we have of expectation that school is responsible for our children's learning. I want Tara exposed to new ideas in literature, science, math, and culture that I just don't have access too, and for that the school system is great. But at the end of the day, she's my kid. And her education is ultimately my responsibility, just like everything else about her.
Sorry, that's my rant. I do want to watch that video. It sounds really interesting!!
I'm SOOO glad you realize & embrace your God-given gift of being ultimately responsible for your child's education (both factualy & spiritual). You are a great mommy!
It literally breaks my heart how the majority of our society does not think like you & Greg. :(
I can't even imagine NOT feeling that way... Maybe I'm just too much of a type-A control-freak to allow someone else to have that much responsibility over my kids!
I have nothing but the utmost respect for good teachers (like you), but you have too much on your plate to be SOLELY responsible for my child (and 25 others!)
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