When I was a student in a private school, we had Bible as a class, prayers before basketball games, and a Christian worldview-based curriculum for practically every class. When I went to my class reunion 5 years ago, it seemed as if all but maybe 15 - 20% of my classmates had fallen into some sort of open, unrepentant, and significant area of sin. Backsliding doesn't begin to describe the problems some of them were facing. It's so painful to see it happen. There were classic mistakes too.

The primary mistake was a lot of fathers who earned the money, paid the tuition, and expected everything to be fine. They looked on private schooling as a magic formula that would produce adults who reflected their own beliefs. How wrong they were! Outward compliance said nothing for the inward disposition of most of these students. Many of the students took the approach to Bible like they took the approach to the rest of the classes. Say the words, fill in the blanks, follow the leader, and you'll get your grade. Play the game.

When they graduated, they decided to play the games they wanted to play. These games increased the stakes and raised the ante. They played with their health, their minds, and worse, their hearts and spirits. Where are they now? I hope and pray they're safe. But for at least some of them, I know better than to believe that.

The school I attended never issued a guarantee saying that the students who entered their doors would be faithful and devout. Fathers made the inferrence. The most troubling part is that homeschooling fathers are not immune to making the same mistake.

The belief, of course, is that by keeping our kids at home that we will somehow prevent our kids from becoming little pagan monsters that smoke and chew and run with those who do. We're half right in that assumption. It gives our kids a chance not to become like that. In reality, it all comes down to two elements.

The first element is the parent. Here's the part you can control. You can plan what you're going to do for the school year. You can organize, structure, and rearrange what you're doing to better fulfill your design and purpose for homeschooling. Are you seeking to make your child obey? Or, are you cultivating a heart? What are you seeking to build into your kids by educating them at home? Don't just assume that if you're keeping them home that you're keeping them safe. All of your lesson plans should be geared for the day they step over the threshold of their own apartment or home.

The second element is the child. You can control the child...while they live with you. You can make rules, enforce them, and reward good behavior, but if it's all just a game, your child will look for new games when they leave home, where they think they make the rules. Each child is a unique individual, created by God with their own temperment, their own will. What worked for your first born is unlikely to work for your last born. My last born just walked past with her shorts on her head, proving that she is truly different from her by-the-numbers first born sister. You cannot change everything about your child, but you can work with their hearts and grow them. Will every child always take everything to heart? I don't think so. That's why we pray.

There are no guarantees, but you can improve your odds of success. It starts with homeschooling. The bulk of it ends when they leave home. That's the final exam, and sometimes, they have to take it over again. Work to give them the best start. Don't just assume homeschooling will take care of your children.

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Eric Holcombe's link: http://www.familyministries.com/HS_Crisis.htm

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