Father’s letter on schools
Vol. XIX, No. 6, August 2006
Dear Sirs,
My name is Barry Wright. I would like to say thank you to both of you for your persistence in introducing resolutions before the Southern Baptist Convention asking for a thoughtful strategy to pull our children from public schools.
If I may, I would like to share with you an experience my wife and I have had this past year with the public school system here in Columbus, IN. I wrestled with this issue for quite some time, but this pushed me off the fence and forced me to finally take a side. I hope that perhaps you can use our story to further this unfortunate yet necessary cause.
Our 13-year-old daughter, Lauren, started seventh grade last year. At the end of the first quarter, Tamara (my bride) and I went in to visit teachers at Lauren's school for parent/teacher conferences. When we met with Lauren's social studies teacher, I was bothered by what I had found in his classroom. In it were all sorts of religious idols, pictures of religious shrines and places of worship – of eastern mystic cults and Islam, a poster promoting animism, a poster promoting transcendentalism, and a poster promoting communism. Not one item could be found anywhere in this classroom concerning Christianity. I was so distracted by this obvious anti-Christian bias, I could not focus on the conversation at hand. To say the least, I did not walk away that evening feeling very good about the environment in which my young and impressionable daughter was being "educated." (I think the proper word would be indoctrinated.)
A few weeks later, another issue came to a head within our community concerning an article written by high schoolers on the topic of oral sex. You may have heard of it...we made The O'Reilly Factor. I read the article...it was well written and was supportive of an abstinence only position. However school officials, student advisers, and students themselves did an end run on the parents of our community by not allowing them to review this article before it was published and distributed to the student body. It was published without notifying parents first. We were walled off from the entire process.
I then started doing some research on what rights parents do have anymore in America when it comes to our children in the public schools. I have learned a lot. The most disturbing thing – that public officials are systematically trying to strip parents of our God-ordained right to be our child's conscience until they are emancipated. What is worse is that the church has allowed this to happen; we are asleep at the wheel when it comes to this matter.
Being loaded for bear, I scheduled an appointment with Lauren's principal to present him a letter containing a list of subjects that Tamara and I considered to be objectionable. This letter informed the principal that we reserved the right to approve in writing any material to be presented to our daughter concerning the topics mentioned. In other words, we would screen the curriculum beforehand.
During our discussion, I asked to see the lesson plans of Lauren's social studies teacher. We were eventually told we could not see them because those are "protected" - that they are the teacher's personal, private notes. I objected to this notion and asked the principal if he had to approve those lesson plans. He said he did. So I asked him then if why are they protected if he acting in the public interest as an official of the state in the review of those plans. He had no answer. They still would not allow us to review them.
I asked to review the curriculum. The principal directed me to the state academic standards. I objected again stating that standards are standards – not curriculum. The principal insisted that this was the curriculum and he was only doing what the state mandates.
So I reviewed the Indiana Academic Standards for seventh and eighth graders – all of them. I was shocked at what I discovered. The state is requiring that all junior high students be taught about all major religious voices – except, Christianity. This issue is no longer an issue for local school boards gentlemen. This is happening at the state level.
Hosea 4:6 comes to mind...
This fight is not just about sexuality being taught in the public schools anymore. It is about Christian parents, it is about Southern Baptist parents continuing to place their children in the halls of liberal institutions – 5 days a week, 7 hours a day – that wish to program our children's minds in accordance to their worldview. That's 35 hours a week of anti-Christian training.
We are naive and misguided to think that we are programming our children in a Christian worldview by taking them to Sunday School for one hour on Sunday mornings and 2 hours of youth group on Sunday nights! We are not programming...we are re-programming and are failing.
I could ramble on for hours. I want to do more to stop this nonsense. I want very much for this resolution you have proposed to pass. I do not care how many faithful Southern Baptists are working within the public education system!! For those who bring this to the table as an objection...they are deceived. Their intentions may not have been malicious, but some are certainly selfish.
A Christian gentleman I work with applauds me whenever I write a letter to the editor or our newspaper because, "...my wife works as a secretary in the high school and if I wrote those things, she could lose her job." So as opposed to doing or saying the right thing, as opposed to being salt and light, Christians are now allowing themselves to become hostage to the almighty paycheck and retirement.
Please continue fighting this fight. It is a good fight...even if it is amongst fellow believers. I would like to help in anyway I can. Please feel to contact me if something should arise that you feel may desire my involvement.
Persevering to the end,
Barry Wright
7980 Burbrink Drive
Columbus, IN 47201
home: (812) 375-9004
work: (812) 341-2827
cell: (812) 371-5140