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ONE FOOT IN AND ONE FOOT OUT (Should we make use of public school programs?)

By Exodus Mandate State Coordinators Dick Jones (Michigan) and Karl Priest (West Virginia)

April 8, 2010 (revised 5-5-18)

Are public school extra-curricular activities for Christian children worth the risk?

For reasons of "socialization," parents of Christian-schooled or homeschooled children enroll their children in public school extra-curricular activities.

Socialization is a necessary part of raising children, but parents must be wary of how their children are socialized.

Parents should be seriously concerned about the negative influence associated with extra-curricular public school activities. As a teacher, Karl Priest witnessed some alarming instances of public school socialization.

Parents should be seriously concerned about the negative influence associated with extra-curricular public school activities. The dictionary defines socialization as: “ process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior...” (dictionary.com) There are socialization methods that are parent-directed and God-honoring, and then there are all the other "popular" kinds. These others demand a closer look.  

Small homeschool groups already have band and drama. Church basketball has worked well for the last fifty years. Soccer leagues are wide-spread. There are plenty of opportunities for participation in activities such Little League baseball or a dance class.

The real reason parents often choose part-time public school enrollment is the "god" of football. If enough Christians obeyed God’s word and removed children from the public schools, Christian kids could have their own football teams. Some places have already done it:

GFC (Glory for Christ) Football http://www.georgiafootballleague.com/
Homeschool Football League http://www.homeschoolfootballleague.com/index.html
Homeschool Sports Network http://www.hspn.net/default2010BETA.asp

The danger, however, goes beyond public school socialization "values."

Playing sports or participating in band has the potential to turn a not unreasonable socialization plan into a dangerous slippery slope.  If one class is OK, why not all of them? Why pay for private schooling or exert the effort to homeschool?

Furthermore, once students are enrolled part-time, the schools are better able to assert greater control over them.  Partial enrollment also continues the influx of funds into a system that is un-Constitutional, un-Godly, and broken beyond repair.

Perhaps most important is this: Should the state decide to crack down on home and Christian schoolers, parents have forfeited the ability to claim that “religious convictions” is what led them to choose Christian or home schooling in the first place.

The best thing parents can do is to keep both feet out of the muck. There is plenty of solid ground on which to walk as their children are socialized with vaules embraced by their families.

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Also contributing to this article was Bruce Short (Texas State Coordinator) and Ray Moore (National Director)

More about the subject of “socialization”:
What About Socialization?
Homeschooling & Socialization
Homeschooling and Socialization
Homeschooling 101: Socialization
Socialization!: Public School vs Homeschool
100 Ways to Socialize your Homeschooled Teen  
50 Ways to Teach Social Skills to Homeschoolers
Homeschooling and Socialization: Myths vs. Facts
Socialization: Homeschoolers Are in the Real World
Socialization – The Biggest Non-Issue in Homeschooling

Also see: Why Christian Education Is Important.