Our Education Systems

(This is a paper I did for English. We were allowed to choose whatever topic we wanted, so long as it went under the category of 'The Shape We're In.' I chose to talk about the poor shape of our education system.)


Stephanie Defoyd
Instructor: Dr. Rossiter
English 101-60
College Writing
October 7, 2011

Drug and alcohol abuse, hate, killings – guess what? All of this and even more is happening within our schools, the supposedly “safe” institutions that millions of Americans – young and old alike – attend for an education. Why is this happening? Is there anything that can be done about it? Increasing the school workloads has already been tried. To say the least, our education system is in very poor condition.

Adding more education isn't going to change things. There is always news about shootings within our schools, and even without the schools that involve students and/or teachers, if not both. A close to home example would be one that happened just recently. A University of Idaho professor – who I believe had resigned just a few days before this – shot a 22 year old woman, who had been a student of his, at her home, and then later, committed suicide. It’s apparent that more education didn’t solve this one, as it will not solve all the many other versions of hate that reside in our schools either.

The direct cause of the rise in crime and hate within our education systems is the removal of one very important thing: Love. We have taken God (Who IS Love) out of our education system and wonder why all these horrible things like shootings and other crimes are showing up more and more in our schools. What is the absence of Love? Hate. And the results of it are murder, war, stealing, and abuse. But what abounds in the presence of Love? Why, joy, forgiveness, peace, hope, prosperity, and life, of course! Quite a contrast, wouldn’t you say? So why has God been taken out of our education system if all He has ever done is make things better, not worse?

Well, apparently God “offends” people, particularly those who do not know Him. Despite the fact that the religious heritage of our country, the United States of America, is Christianity, and that our nation’s motto is “In GOD we trust,” – which is stamped all over the money both Christians and non-Christians in this country use – God is no longer allowed in schools because there are so many from other beliefs and religions who may not believe in Him that we are afraid of “offending” in some way or another.

I heard on the news once that there are schools that actually have rules stating no one is allowed to even wear jewelry – such as a necklace with a cross charm, rings, etc. – or anything else that symbolizes their belief in God. Yet, for religions where people are required to wear certain things such as this, there is an exception, for of course, we cannot risk offending others, now can we? Quite a double-standard, if you ask me.

Morality seems to be more or less far from the education system’s list of what should be taught within our schools. Immortality runs rapid within the places we believe our children are getting a good, sound education. Here is an example: I recently heard about a 14 year old kid in Fort Worth, Texas who got suspended from school just for saying to a friend of his, “I’m a Christian. Homosexuality is wrong,” while in a language class he was taking. Having been overheard by the teacher of the class, he was sent to the principal’s office and suspended for one or two days. How come it is okay for students and teachers to talk of immoral things such as this within the schools as long as they are neutral or even promoting it, yet it is completely horrible for someone to point out its wrongness and bring God into the discussion in some form or fashion as this child did? What has happened to our First Amendment right to “freedom of speech”? It looks like our education system has twisted that one to suit its own purposes. There, this right has turned into the right of “freedom FROM speech.”

Our right to freedom of speech isn’t the only one that has been twisted. It’s obvious that our right to “freedom OF religion” has been changed within our education system as “freedom FROM religion” (emphasis mine). It’s okay to talk about God on Sundays or Wednesday nights at church, – or whenever else there are services – but He can’t come to school with us. If He does, one can expect a reprimand or even suspension as shown in the previous paragraph.

Teachers can even lose their jobs for talking about Christ in schools, or praying with the classes. (Despite this fact, I had the privilege of knowing a few teachers who were not afraid to talk with us about God, or pray with us before tests, for which I am very thankful). My first experience of being told I could not speak of my Lord in school was while working as a Temporary Direct Service Aide at the local Head Start around Christmastime this past year. I had said something to one of the 5-year-olds about hoping they had a very merry Christmas. The teacher I was assisting overheard me and said in a low voice, “Ooooh, Steph, we are not allowed to talk about" (she spelled it out) "C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s in school with the children, or anything to do with C-h-r-i-s-t for that matter. We can’t risk offending anyone. …” I had never heard about this rule here, nor had my supervisor mentioned it to me, and it wasn’t in any of the paper work I signed, so I continued to share God’s love with the kids out on the playground and answer their questions about His love for them when they asked me.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the length of the “moment of silence” after the Pledge of Allegiance. It has become quite short. I know at my old school it has gone from lasting at least a minute or more to only several seconds, maximum. What happened? Do they just want to get it over with as quickly as possible? Do they figure they will keep this quiet time for God just so those who strongly believe He should be allowed within our education system will be quiet, but keep it short so that those who are totally against it will also be happy with the minimization? I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case.

It’s crazy how other religions are allowed to be talked of and even represented within our schools, yet talking about God – which if one reads the Pledge of Allegiance will see that our nation is not only “indivisible,” but “one” UNDER GOD – is a big “no, no.” Actually, it’s quite hypocritical when one thinks about it.

It wasn’t that many years ago that our Savior was allowed to reside within our schools. What happened? What changed to suddenly have us remove Him? Did God change? The answer is no. God didn’t change. He never has and never will. In the Bible, Hebrews 13:8 (King James Version) assures us of this truth: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” What happened is that we have become more corrupt. We think we can do without Him in our lives, and particularly within our education system, even though all of the evidence – killings, abuse, hate, etc. – prove otherwise. The thing is, we have “turned a blind eye” to this stark fact. Instead of being willing to take action and truly remove hate from our education system, we would rather just sit back, throw some more education at the students, and hope that that will keep them busy. Of course, we should never want to offend anyone by bringing JESUS back into our schools! But then, HE is who our nation was founded under only 200-some years before.

A man once said, “We do not treat a toothache with a haircut, or fix a flat tire by changing the oil…” He was right. When one has a problem, one should go to the root of it to find the solution. Changing the oil of the vehicle with a flat tire isn’t going to fix the tire. One has to look at the tire and fix it in order to get the desired result. This goes for our schools as well. If we want to remove Hate (murder, abuse, etc.) from our schools, we must allow Love (God) back in. Hate and Love are issues within one’s heart, not within one’s mind. Piling more schooling onto someone isn’t going to change anything but their minds. Just as changing the oil of a vehicle won’t fix a flat tire, our giving students more education will not take away the hate. Our education system is in very poor shape, but unless we let Christ back in, it is never going to get any better.