Are There Alternatives?

What might parents do if they seem to have only two choices-boarding school or a poorly equipped  local school?  Some who have found themselves in this situation arrange for private lessons to supplement their children's education at a local school. Other parents set aside time to tutor their children themselves.  

Sometimes parents avoid problems by planning well in advance of the time when their children are old enough to enter secondary school. If you have young children or are planning to raise a family, you  might  check to see if there is an adequate secondary school in your area. If there is not, it may be possible to move closer to one.  

As parents well know, it requires skill, patience, and much time to instill in a child a child a love for Jehovah. If this is difficult, when a child is living at home, how much harder it is if the child is living far away! Since the everlasting life of a child is involved, parents must seriously  and prayerfully decide whether handing their youngster over to a boarding school is worth the risk.  How shortsighted interests for the benefits of a boarding-school education! This would be like dashing into a burning house to rescue a trinket-only to be consumed by the flames.  

God's Word says:  "Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself, but the inexperienced have passed along  and must suffer the penalty." (Proverbs 22:3)  Better it is to prevent a  bad situation than to correct one later. It would be wise to think of that if you ask yourself, "Should my child go to a boarding school? 

Next time: EHUD A Man of Faith and Courage

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997