Sadly, the passage sounds a lot like where we are today
in America’s public schools. Religion and the Bible are no
longer being taught. We’ve forgotten what the Lord has
done for us, and we’re paying the price. Over the last forty
years, society has become more and more violent.
Classroom discipline, once concerned with chewing gum
and cutting in line, focuses today on guns, knives, drugs,
rape, and even murder.
Consider the case of a New York City teacher who resigned
because of something that few people are willing to
acknowledge publicly: the dangerous climate in our schools.
In an anonymous article recently in the New York Post, the
teacher asked us to imagine ourselves in the following situations:
Picture yourself trying to teach students who talk above
you the entire time you’re speaking. Picture yourself
assigning homework, and just six students out of thirty-four
actually do it. Picture being cursed on a weekly basis for
asking students to be quiet or to come inside the classroom.
Picture fights breaking out while you’re teaching. Picture
yourself calling security and waiting helplessly as the fight
turns into a riot, because security never comes.
Picture calling a student’s home and being told, "I can’t
control him either. That’s why I send him to school. He’s
your responsibility." Picture garbage being thrown at you
when you’re trying to walk to your car. Picture being
threatened with knives the day before report cards come out.
Well, the "school climate" varies from place to place, but
when teachers spend most of their time struggling to
maintain order, no amount of extra money or stricter testing
will help. We have to instill fundamental values and teach
right and wrong—and the source of the moral order.
There’s a solution that can help restore civility. It’s called
"Released Time Bible Education," and it’s perfectly legal.
With parental permission, public school kids can be released
for devotional Bible study, organized off-campus by local
churches during the day. It’s that simple. It’s constitutional,
and it works.
School Ministries, an organization dedicated to bringing hope
to youth through Released Time Bible Education,
has gathered some great stories about how lives are being
changed. Call us here at BreakPoint and we’ll tell you how you
can get a copy.
Looking for a program that can reduce violence, truancy,
vandalism, and incivility, while increasing caring and ministering
to those in need? What teacher or parent in their right mind
wouldn’t want something like this that really works?
Every hour on MTV, there’s music that celebrates suicide and
violence. That’s the world our kids are living in. But the Bible offers
a worldview that gives hope and meaning, showing that good is
stronger than evil, and that love can triumph over hate.
Call us today and find out more about Released Time Education—
a great way to bring hope to America’s youth, and their teachers.
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Click here for the academic study of the
Bible in public schools
Click here for the devotional study of the Bible
off-campus during the public school day.
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Radio Transcript No. 011004
From:
BreakPoint, copyright 2001
October 31, 2001
Reprinted with permission of:
Prison Fellowship
P.O. Box 17500
Washington, DC 20041-7500
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