Commentary on Southern Baptists and public schools

The Norfolk paper in this editorial laments the idea that the Southern Baptist children are being told to get out of the public schools, because such an exodus would deprive them of "the opportunity to weigh their values and ideas against those of others, and vice versa."

How odd. Elementary school is not a forum for moral debate. Much of what a teen or pre-teen might learn through from his or her peers is just plain bad. The NY Times had this story today about a family court judge in Las Vegas who blames the Vegas environment for the problems with his daughter. He would have shielded her from the bad influences, if he could have.

I heard it on ESPN Radio this afternoon - the teams you like at age 9 are the ones you will root for at age 49. The kind of kid you are at age 9 might have a lot to do with what kind of person you are at age 39. I would have guessed that keeping kids away from others with unacceptable ideas until they are old enough is precisely the point (or one of them) in favor of home school or private school, to raise kids "right" without someone else telling them another way to go.