Parents have a sacred duty before God to oversee the instruction and discipleship of their children. If mothers and fathers take a hands-off approach to education, allowing the school system to shape their children’s worldviews with no parental involvement or discernment, they are abandoning their biblical responsibility. From a spiritual perspective, parents simply cannot outsource the discipleship of their children. They must take an active role in understanding and influencing what their children learn.
This truth has become even more pressing given some of the concerning trends in public education in recent times. For instance, in June (designated as Pride Month), the White House announced it would appoint a new Department of Education (DOE) coordinator “to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students.” The Biden administration contends that banning books with LGBTQ characters or perspectives could discriminate against those students by creating a hostile school environment.
In response to these happenings, United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) organization seeks to return education to local control and restore parental authority. USPIE founder Sheri Few has grave concerns over federal agencies and special interest groups pushing their agendas on America’s schools. She points to the Biden administration’s efforts to stop book bans as a prime example of the federal government encroaching on the authority of local schools and parents.
Few commented in a July press release, ”No one can parent a child better than his or her God-given parents, and it is up to those parents to determine the content their child is consuming. All of this effort to allow pornographic, radical content into government schools is just another tactic to desensitize and indoctrinate America’s children.”
She continued, ”It is high time the American people stood up and fought back for the sake of America’s future – its children.”
To expose the dangerous indoctrination happening in public schools across the ideological spectrum, USPIE created the eye-opening documentary Truth & Lies in American Education. It reveals how children are being taught that America is inherently racist, capitalism is oppressive, and biblical morality is bigoted. Few strongly encourages parents to watch the film and take action to protect their children. This may mean utilizing school choice options, homeschooling, or joining the fight for school reform. But parents must resist the unbiblical influences to which their children are being exposed.
Few believes restoring local control of education is key to raising up a new generation prepared to impact society for Christ.
“The bottom line is that parents should get the ultimate last word on what their children are learning, not the government or school system,” Few stated.
If parents stand strong
The Stand spoke with Few about the organization’s history and mission as well as how they are empowering parents across America.
“When my kids were in school, I started noticing concerning things in their curricula – inaccuracies about history, inappropriate sex-ed materials, and more,” said Few.
Her complaints to school officials and requests for alternatives went nowhere. Frustrated, in 2001, she formed a nonprofit called South Carolina Parents Involved in Education. Through organizing and advocacy, they were able to defeat some proposed radical sex-education standards.
As the Common Core standards were being pushed at the national level, Few connected with like-minded parent activists across the country who had similar alarming experiences in their local schools. Realizing they shared common ground, Few’s group decided to expand their efforts. Around 2015, they established USPIE as a national organization to empower parents to challenge objectionable education policies.
According to Few, USPIE’s main educational concern today is ending federal overreach through the Department of Education (DOE) and its web of federal mandates influencing classrooms.
“Multiple federal agencies influence local classrooms by incentivizing curriculum changes with money,” she said. “This results in a loss of parental and local control.”
USPIE aims to counteract this by restoring control over education to parents and local communities who best understand the needs of their children.
This is the reason USPIE created the documentary Truth & Lies in American Education. As Few described it, the film weaves together many of the main problems she sees in public schools today: Marxist indoctrination, anti-Americanism, graphic sex ed, and more.” Screenings of the film have been crucial for waking up parents to what’s happening behind the scenes.
When it comes to practical action steps, Few encourages parents to visit uspie.org, where they can join the movement and access resources at the website.
Parents can share the film to educate other concerned citizens in their communities. They can also start USPIE chapters in their states, support policies that expand school choice, and most urgently, as Few advises, “protect their kids now by finding alternative education options.” She firmly believes “this is too urgent to trust the system will improve in time.”
Few sees parental empowerment and assertiveness as the key to reclaiming authority over what kids learn and how schools operate.
If parents fail to stand
The discipleship of children is the high calling of Christian parents. Abdicating that responsibility to the state can have far-reaching consequences.
First, the minds and hearts of the children will be subject to the whims of agenda-driven politicians, special interest groups, and fickle cultural movements rather than the timeless wisdom of God’s Word. Biblical values imparted at home will be constantly challenged by the competing worldviews. As these children grow into adults and take their place as in the various spheres of society, the fruit of their secularized discipleship is sure to impact their families, communities and nation.
Finally, the parents who neglected their sacred duty of discipleship will have to give an account before God for mishandling the precious souls He entrusted to their care.
The cost of outsourcing discipleship is nothing short of the spiritual well-being of children and the future of the nation. With so much at stake, Christian parents must rise to their calling with prayerful dependence on the Lord, diligent discernment, and humble courage to stand for truth.
(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the November 2023 print edition of The Stand).
