Homeschooling has become the fastest growing form of education in the United States, according to the National Home Education Research Institute. At the present growth rate, ten percent of the K-12 students in the country could be taught by parents at home within five years.

Adding that to the tens of thousands of private schools, no other nation has such a variety of options. And no other nation has the basic freedom that allows such variety. In Europe, several cases have recently reached the attention of the international media.

One current case in Sweden involves a father who was arrested just this month for violating visitation rules. His son was taken at gunpoint without search warrant or due process simply because he was home schooled.

Another family recently fled to the U.S. to avoid prosecution under mandatory school attendance laws. Most of Europe is much stricter about school attendance and severely limits parental rights to discipline as they see fit. Spanking has been outlawed for some time in most countries. Unfortunately, U.S. government policy is rapidly shifting in that direction.

Under anti-discrimination laws, schools must accommodate unbiblical behavior that was not tolerated a generation ago. Christian parents find themselves increasingly at odds with the government schools that sexualize children under the guise of "health education." One judge in California last year told one family that, if they send their children to the government schools, they must accept whatever the school chooses to teach them.

Currently, the Federal Department of Education is proposing that all private colleges and universities be required to obtain approval from the federal government for accreditation in addition to private accreditation organizations that have functioned for over 100 years.

The United Nations also is pushing to get into the act. For several years, the U.S. Senate has resisted ratifying the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Should we ratify it, then the U.N. regulations would supersede our own country`s laws.

Senator Barbara Boxer has pushed hard to get the Senate to ratify the treaty but resistance has come from a group of lawmakers led by Senator Jim DeMint. "We believe we need to take clear action here in Congress to protect the rights of parents to raise their children," DeMint said. "This treaty would, in fact, establish a precedent that those rights have been given over to the international community."

This is all part of the trend to remove control of our children from us as parents and place them under control of the state. We can be assured that the state`s interest will not be based on moral and spiritual values held dear by Bible believers.

Christian parents must no longer view the government schools as their friend in raising godly children. We must remember what religious researcher George Barna has determined, that what happens to a child before age 13 will largely determine his spiritual and moral perspective for life. Little change happens after that age.

Homeschoolers have it right: parents are still the best teachers. While every family has different constraints, godly parents must use every means to develop a solid, biblical foundation in their children.

If home schooling is not an option, then we need to help kids understand God`s view of the good and evil in the world so they can understand and make good choices.
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