The devil Loves (to eat) Your Children

"Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it." Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

Although the scripture above is several thousand years old, it is perhaps even more applicable today that it was back in the day. I talk a lot about the world system because I have come to realize that it is an extremely cunning and sinister system of control and degradation that seeks to subtly destroy people. It is a conspiracy in the truest sense of the word, started right from day 1 by that old serpent back in the garden, and has continued to flourish in bigger and deeper ways to the point where these days even the strongest of Christ's disciples have trouble distinguishing God's ways from the world's ways.

While in White Rock over the weekend I was talking to Joan (Lisa's dad's girlfriend), who is a kindergarten teacher. She was telling us how things have changed over the past few years in the way that children are being taught.

I remember when kindergarten (and most of the early grades, for that matter) was all about learning how to interact socially, learn how to be creative and get kind of geared up to start learning. It is a very important stage in a child's life and social training is extremely important. I don't think I could read to any great degree, or do times tables until grade 2 sometime (actually I couldn't do those until about grade 6, but whatever), which seems about the right time to really start learning academically in a really serious way.

According to Joan the curriculum has been seriously changed over the past few years and even at the kindergarten level is VERY centred on literacy and numeracy, to the point now where there is no time for social interaction or playing. 5 year old children are now experiencing failure because, as Joan says and I agree with, the majority of children just don't have the mental development at that age to properly absorb the material. Some do and a lot do not - it has nothing to do with the child's intelligent, they simply aren't ready for that yet - and honestly why should they be?

Joan made the interesting comment that it is switch to a more Asian way of doing things. Interesting to note seeing as there are almost more Asian people in Vancouver now than any other ethinicity (including caucasian). Not that I would use a stereotype when dealing with individual people, but taking a look at cultural stereotypes can give a clue about cultural trends. It seems to me that Asian family life in general often characterized by a very unabalanced combination of diminutive, quiet and subservient women who are dominated and in some cases abused by wealthy and ruthless husbands.

This is just one symptom of a society that seems to value business and productivity over ethics and relationships and obviously teaches that to their children very early in life. When a young child's social development is put aside in favour of numbers and grades, what kind of adults are likely to grow out of that? It makes me wonder what kind of leaders we might have in twenty or thirty years.

Its not enough that children are bombarded with terrible messages coming from TV shows, movies, video games and the internet - now the very underpinings of their early education and development are being used against them. More than ever, parents must take an increasingly active and resonsible role in raising children, because if the parents won't do it there is a little red man with horns, hooves and pitchfork tail who is more than happy to teach them everything they need to know . . .