CHOIS Connection is published quarterly by Christian Homeschoolers Of Idaho State.
This article appeared in a previous issue.
CHOIS Connection
Res' Piece
by Res Peters
"An Ancient Calling"
Winter 2007
2008. We ring in the New Year with food, football, and resolutions. But for home educators, the Super Bowl kickoff begins January 7th at the Statehouse with the opening of the legislative session.
Arrayed on the field are the undefeated Idaho homeschoolers vs. those who would seek to regulate them. The ball…homeschooling freedom. In possession… the homeschoolers. Their goal…to maintain unrestricted private home education. The opposition's…to erode homeschooling freedom, play by play.
The homeschoolers, outweighed and outspent by their opponents, are noticeably dwarfed on the field. The intimidating results of the opposition's highly paid coaching staff, elite training camps, and state-of-the-art weight rooms appear formidable.
In the stands behind the opposing team sits the Idaho Education Association, en masse. Well supplied with glossy banners and horns, their message reads: IT TAKES A PROFESSIONAL TO TEACH A CHILD.
Complimentary box seats are provided for select government task force members, agency chiefs, and elected officials overlooking choreographed cheers led by the $307 million National Education Association (NEA).
On the homeschool side are the coaches, a few veteran home educators sharing the benefit of their vision and experience. Their service is gratis, encouraging those on the field to keep their eyes on the freedom ball, to build moral character in their children, and to not lose heart that their lives run counter to the culture surrounding them.
Their message is not new. Behind the coaches stand the cheerleaders of old, waving banners that echo an ancient calling, "For Our Children's Children."
Leading the charge, William Bradford steps forward to admonish the team not to negligently lose what has cost their forefathers so much. Flanking him are the signers of the Declaration of Independence who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the political freedom of future generations.
Filling our stands to counter the slick slogans, the training camps, the tooting horns, and the NEA war chest, whom do we find? Sadly, very few. Our side is strangely sparse, with only a small band of graying homeschoolers and a sampling of courageous officials.
What has become of the vocal crowd that won our freedom? As first-generation homeschoolers graduate their last child, they tend to walk off the field without gazing ahead to their children's children. Battle-worn and understandably relieved, they hand off the ball and exit the stadium without pausing to consider some cultural markers affecting their family's future freedom and security.
Is the current culture moving toward my values or further away. Do I hesitate before saying "Merry Christmas" to a store clerk. Have I ever wondered if a terrorist is on my plane. Am I concerned that internet predators will break through my firewall and reach my children. Do the reasons that I chose a counter-culture path pale compared to those of the current generation of new parents.
Bradford and the Pilgrims who settled Plymouth had first fled England to the Netherlands for religious freedom, and later to America due to the corrupt moral influences on their children. Half died the first year.
How difficult was it for the Pilgrims to raise children in their culture? Serious enough for them to risk their lives to colonize an unknown land. Yet, when the Mayflower captain offered them free passage back to England, none of those surviving returned with him, selflessly viewing their lives as "stepping stones" for those who would follow.
If the influences of the culture were intolerable for the Pilgrims in their generation and for you in yours, how much more so will it be for your children to raise their children. Is it worth it to stay in the battle for your grandchildren?
If the answer is yes, then come back. Purchase a season ticket, join the Booster Club, and take your place in the stands beside those who will fight for this freedom. Renew your ICHE membership. Keep current on the issues and responsive to alerts. Develop a relationship with your legislators. Donate your time to chair a committee, make phone calls, or bake pies for Legislative Day. Volunteer at the convention and remain active in your support group. Invest time in doing the work of the organization to free up the next generation to teach their children.
But even more importantly, be an encourager to our team of fresh new homeschoolers who understand and appreciate your vision to secure their freedom and to lay the foundation for what they do every day in their families. Recognize the power of a single uplifting word. Cheer on those courageous parents who are willing to stand in your place on the field. Strengthen their resolve in the heat of the battle not to give up, but to put their families first, ignoring the voices of the culture and the opposition who tell them otherwise. And never underestimate the value of the generational richness you offer to young families. Find a younger family to adopt and then be there over the long haul, investing in them the wisdom of your experience. You will be invigorated and enriched as much as they.
Twenty-five years ago daring parents, like the Pilgrims, wearied of the moral and spiritual culture influencing their children in public school and they removed them. In the spirit of our Founding Fathers, they battled for a decade to secure the legal right to do so in every state. Some even sacrificed their lives, fortunes, and reputations for the cause. Resolute in their commitment, they were successful.
History has proven, it does not take a "professional" to educate a child.
But the NEA would have you believe otherwise and has even taken this idea a step further. Their new banner changes only one word: IT TAKES A PROFESSIONAL TO RAISE A CHILD.
Advocating for public school programs beginning at birth, they assert that parents are not only unqualified to educate, they are incompetent to parent. Returning to the field on January 7th, they will attempt to intercept the freedom ball we hold and incrementally, one play at a time, run it down the field.
Are you equipped for the Super Bowl, January 7th? Is your ICHE membership current to receive alerts when the opposition threatens to take our ball? Have you identified your legislators in the program? Are you and your children prepared to keep your eye on the ball? If not, go to www.iche-idaho.org to suit up. The stakes are too high to miss the opening play.
Whether in the stands or on the field, if we each remain in the game,
the freedom ball will likely stay within our grasp. If we walk off the field and out of the stadium, we are guaranteed to lose what we will not likely reclaim for our children's children.
RES PETERS is the State Director of Testing for the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators. She resides with her husband, Barry, in Eagle, Idaho where they have home educated their two post-collegiate daughters through high school.
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