Should Your Child Go to a Influence of Other Students

The Influence of Other Students

Certain boarding schools may have impressive academic standards.  But what about the moral standards of those who attend or perhaps even of some operating such schools?  Concerning the sort of  people that would abound in these "last days," the apostle Paul wrote:  "In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here.  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of  money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,m unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.." -2 Timothy 3:1-5.

This moral and spiritual decline is global, presenting a challenge to Jehovah's Witnesses in living by the Bible principles.  Students who come home every day fin that even their limited association with worldly schoolmates can exert a powerful negative influence on their spirituality.   Counteracting that influence can be quite a struggle  for Witness children, even with daily support, counsel, and encouragement from their parents.

What, then, is the situation of children who are sent away from their homes to boarding schools?  They are marooned, cut off from the regular spiritual support of loving parents.  Since they live with their classmates 24 hours a day, pressure to conform to the crowd exerts a stronger influence on their young minds and hearts than it is likely  to do on students who live at home.  Said one student:  "Morally, a boarder is living in danger from morning to night."

Paul wrote:  "Do not be misled.  Bad associations spoil useful habits."  (1 Corinthians 15:33)  Christian parent should not be misled into thinking that their children will suffer no spiritual harm if they are in constant association  with those who do not serve God. Over a period of time, godly children  can become desensitized  to Christian values and can lose all appreciation for spiritual things.  Sometimes this does not become evident to parents until after their children have left boarding school.  Then it is often too late to correct matters. 

The experience of Clement is typical.  He relates:  "Before going away to boarding school, I had a love for the truth and went out  in field service with the brothers.  I particularly enjoyed participating in our family Bible study and the Congregation Book Study.  However, since I went into boarding school at the age of 14, I left the truth completely.  Throughout the five years I spent in boarding school, I never attended  meetings.  As a result of bad company, I got involved with drugs, smoking, and heavy drinking."

Next time: Should Your Child Go to a BOARDING SCHOOL? - The Influence of Teachers

The Watchtower, 1997