John Stonestreet – Page 56

Homeschooling Spikes Thanks to the Pandemic

Oct 4, 2021John StonestreetHome SchoolHome School

*John Stonestreet, Radio Host and Director of the Colson Center*

Recently, the US Census bureau reported, somewhat diplomatically, “It’s clear that in an unprecedented environment, families are seeking solutions that will reliably meet [the needs] of their children.” That’s an understatement.

The New York Times reports that just last year, more than 1 million children did not enroll in kindergarten. The impact of learning loss from missed school time has parents worried across every grade. After years of the nationwide percentage of homeschool families hovering around 3.3 percent, that number jumped to 11.1 percent in the fall of 2020.

If all of this means a renewed emphasis on parental involvement, that’s a good thing. Whether homeschooled or otherwise, involved parents consistently predict far better educational outcomes for kids. Which makes sense, because parents are the primary, God-given guardians of their children’s future.

Education begins in the home. Or, as Tina Windebank put it over at Citizenlink, “Relax! Your kids are already homeschooled.”

Marijuana Harms

Sep 27, 2021John StonestreetMarijuanaMarijuana

According to Dr. Eric Voth in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “There exists clear medical evidence of increased psychiatric difficulties with marijuana use, including violence, psychosis, schizophrenia, manic episodes, worsening depression and suicide.”

These effects are particularly harmful for youth.

Of course, when it comes to public policy, the cat is largely out of the bag, and probably isn’t going back in. One thing, however, is becoming more and more clear with each study, despite what proponents claimed and promised: marijuana is not the harmless thing we were sold by advocates and the state.

For the record, states should not be in the business of promoting distractions to citizens in the first place, especially harmful ones used to self-medicate symptoms of loneliness, pain, or anxiety without actually addressing the root causes. But this is particularly disturbing when they accomplish this by overselling financial windfalls and underselling the social consequences.

When Parents Aren’t Enough

Sep 20, 2021John StonestreetFamilyParents and Family

According to a recent article in the Atlantic, a growing number of parents wish they’d never had kids. Citing surveys of parents from America, Germany, and Poland, the article points to various reasons for the regret, but Polish researcher Konrad Piotrowski says that the overriding cause is feelings of inadequacy. Or, as a researcher from Belgium put it, “They don’t want to be a parent, because they are not able to be the perfect parent.”

Parenting on social media is one source of that pressure, along with the fact that for many families, the state has taken the place of core institutions (namely, churches) that once provided essential support to parents.

Theologian Abraham Kuyper suggested that God created various spheres of culture, like government and family, church and education, with specific roles and responsibilities. When one or more of these roles and responsibilities are either abandoned or bloated, it puts undue pressure on the other spheres.

Individuals and families are feeling this pressure, and unsustainable. It’s also an incredible opportunity for the church to take the lead in a better way.