Are you kidding me? Public school?

My own public high school experience was pretty mixed. I enjoyed plenty of extra-curriculars, such as peer mediation, student government, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, choir, and drama. And in all of this, I was surrounded by a very diverse cast of characters (pun intended).

At the same time, aside from antagonistic friends (which I loved because I could give it as well as take it), I also had antagonistic teachers who would ridicule my values and belittle me in public.

One was particularly oppressive. She had often shown great disdain for my faith and political opinions over the course of a semester. After catching me throwing out my gum at the beginning of class one day, she assigned me a several-hour long detention over an upcoming exam period. At the assigned time, I sat in her classroom. A little while later, she came in and told me she couldn't stay and I would have to give her another exam period. I couldn't make the latter period because of a prior obligation.

At the beginning of the next year, she confronted me and was particularly nasty (ironically, just after I gave a speech to the faculty in my role as president of "Character Counts") and told me that she was withholding my grade and wouldn't let me graduate until I gave her several days worth of detention. At this point, I got my parents (namely, Mama Bear) involved. The compromise was that the teacher would give me my grade (a "D" in my best subject), and I would spend two weeks of lunch periods with the kids who carved skulls into their desks.

A Christian student better come to expect such "soft persecution" in the public school system these days. In fact, I am sure the climate of intimidation is much worse. Unpopular opinions are often categorized as "harassment." And if you get branded with the "Scarlet B" (for bully), you could get bludgeoned with a variety of punishments--in effect, get bullied by the people in power.

But what separates this environment from the culture-at-large? The culture is irrational and intolerant for the most part. Pluralism is not merely a sociological fact, it is an obtrusive philosophical paradigm to which all must adhere or be accused of hate crimes. This may be overstating the case--most peers in any environment are quite decent, but one must always be on watch.

As teenagers, most children should be equipped for such a type of education. They have mastered the tools of learning and are able to employ those tools upon any subject matter. If they go to a public high school, they will have to use the tools to good effect, because even with AP classes, they will still get a pretty mediocre education.

And that is a price that I am willing to pay for children to develop their rhetoric in a semi-hostile environment. At this point, they don't need to worry about the actual education (aside from the massive time commitment). This will provide a training ground for them to engage very different worldviews with conviction, compassion, and charity. They will be pushed to stand upon their faith or have it swept away, but they certainly won't have the option to sit.

As a result, the perils that come with engaging other worldviews for the first time in college or the workplace will be largely mitigated. They will also learn that relationships with people outside of the Christian faith are often vibrant and lovely, even if challenging.

I was not educated well prior to high school and had no idea what a worldview was, let alone how to use my mind and heart to engage other worldviews. But I was a young Christian and unambiguous about what I believed. I would challenge teachers who taught opposing beliefs as fact. I often offended fellow students with my belief that Jesus Christ was truly the only path to salvation.

But about 200 or so of my classmates went to Church youth activities with me over the years--some of them quite regularly. They appreciated my love for them even when we disagreed. I was elected the vice president of my senior class of 450 students, not because I was a social butterfly (though I was), but because my classmates were willing to tolerate what I believed because I cared about them.

So, yes, if it be God's will, I will send my kids to a public high school, clothed in Christ and ready to learn how to bring their faith to bear upon the real world without being swallowed by the treachery of the real world (James 1:27).