Is Sunday School Bad for Kids?

The best way to insure our kids grow up to love the Lord is to get them to the church everytime its open, right? I don't think so. Especially if that means that once the family enters the church, they all go their seperate ways, each to his own age-segregated classroom, never learning together or ministering together.

Ken Ham, a well-known creationist and founder of Answers in Gensis, has co-written a new book,"Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do about it", that explores why so many young people are leaving the church. One of his findings, after commissioning an in depth study, was as follows:

 

The survey found, much to Ham's surprise, a "Sunday School syndrome," indicating children who faithfully attend Bible classes in their church over the years actually are more likely to question the authority of Scripture.

"This is a brutal wake-up call for the church, showing how our programs and our approaches to Christian education are failing dismally," Ham writes in the book.

As a young adult, I remember being very upset when I read Genesis 7 for myself and found that Noah actually took 7 of the clean animals and only 2 of the unclean. I just remember feeling jipped, as if every Sunday School lesson and BIble storybook I'd every read was a big lie. The way the Sunday school lessons are taught, focusing on the big "characters" and "morality" instead of hard-hitting doctrine and apologetics is one reason why church kids usually leave church.

Honestly, I've been much more in favor of the age-integrated system of worship for a long time, and this article by World Net Daily just confirms the wisdom in keeping our children with us in church, rather than shirking their bible-teaching onto someone else. Here's the whole article:  Why Are Young People Leaving the Church

I do tend to have a fairly negative view of Sunday School. In the younger years especially, I see it as glorified daycare system so that parents can enjoy their 'break' from the kids. While the older kids do get more learning, the negative peer influence is enough to undo years of parenting in one hour.  Obviously, every church is different and every family has to decide its own way, but I think we do need to be aware that sometimes church and Sunday School can do more harm than good.

Perhaps, I'll post a history of the Sunday School movement later.

12:38 PM - Jun. 15, 2009 - post comment

=)

When we have our children go to Sunday School my dh and I don't think of it as a 'break' from the kids.

We actually have a very good children's ministry. After church we go to Wendy's and my husband & I will ask each child what they learned and we have a great discussion.

My dh and I know that we the parents are the main teachers for them. We are to teach them about God and His Word.It is our responsibility.
I wonder if that study would have come out with the same results if they did the study on children whose parents took responsibility to teach them.
I know for me and my siblings that Sunday School was the place where we learned about God. Although my parents were Christians they didn't really teach us God's Word. Sunday School was actually a good thing for us.


Like you said, each family has to decide for themselves.

Blessings and thanks for sharing,
Linda<><

Edited by Homeschooling6 on Jun. 17, 2009 at 3:51 PM

Homeschooling6 - 4:47 PM - Jun. 17, 2009

---