WHO WILL TEACH YOUR CHILDREN?

Christian parents place a high value on education.  They know that schooling helps children to read, write, and communicate, as well as to solve problems.  It should also teach them how to learn.  The skills children acquire in school can help them to succeed despite the challenges of today's  world. Additionally, a good education may help them to perform superior work. -Proverbs 22:29. 

However, school also brings children together with other children-many of whom have distorted views.  For example, consider their views on sex and morals.  In a secondary school in Nigeria, a sexually promiscuous girl used to advise her fellow students about sex.  They listened to her eagerly, even through her ideas  were full of nonsense that she had gleaned from pornographic literature.   Some of the girls experimented with her advice. As a result, one girl got pregnant out of wedlock and died of a self induced abortion.

Sad to say, some of the sexual misinformation at school comes, not from children, but from teachers. Many parents are dismayed when schools teach children about sex without presenting information  on moral standards and responsibility. Said the mother of a 12-year-old girl:  "We live in a very religious conservative area, and yet right in the local high school, they're handing out condoms to the kids!" She and her husband  became concerned when they learned that their daughter  was sexual propositions from boys her own age.  How can parents  protect their family from such wrong influences?

Is it best to shield children from any mention of sexual matters?  No, it is better to teach your children about sex yourself.  (Proverbs 5:1) True, in parts of Europe  and North America, many parents shy away from this subject.  Similarly, in some African lands, parents rarely discuss sex with their children.  "It's not part of the African culture to do so, says a father in Sierra Leone.  Some parents feel that to teach children about sex, is to give them ideas that will  lead them to commit immorality!  But what are God's views?

Next time: GOD'S VIEWS OF SEX

From the book:THE SECRET OF FAMILY HAPPINESS, 1996