5 Ways to Protect Your Children as they Begin a New School Year
Children across America are filing into hallways and classrooms this week as another school year begins. Summer has faded, vacations are over, lunches are packed, supplies are stocked, and buses are running. Old friendships reunite while new students try to find their way. Teachers are anxious to begin their lessons while children dread the assigned homework that awaits. It is always an anxious, excitable, refreshing time of year. Before long, things settle down, and normalcy settles in. Such is the cycle of education.
As teachers, students, and parents prepare themselves for another quarter, be certain, there are other forces that are making plans as well. Principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness relentlessly pursue this generation with the intent to capture their minds, ensnare their thoughts, and sway their opinions. Science, algebra, and literature will not be the most difficult subjects our children face. The greatest tests they’ll encounter will be the spiritual strongholds that have been set up by the enemy. From cultural confusion to political propaganda to religious polytheism, this generation is bombarded with demonic deception on every side. If spiritual warfare is raging, I would suppose some of the most heated battles are in the school systems throughout the land.
How then can we as parents, teachers, and the church of Jesus Christ protect our children from the indoctrination that Satan wants to impose upon their lives?
1. Inundate them with prayer
Prayer goes where you cannot go. Prayer does what you cannot do. A general would never send his troops into battle without arming them with some form of weaponry. Even so, it is imperative that we cover our children with prayer and supplication as they face the frontlines of the battle. Pray for a hedge of protection around every area of their day. Pray that their minds will be guarded, that their hearts will be covered, and their relationships will be wholesome. Pray for their teachers, their classes, their temptations, their seating placement, and on and on. You cannot underestimate the power of prayer when it comes to defending them in the spiritual battles of life.
2. Involve yourself with their activities
Parents and children need to be accountable one to another. If we allow our children to go unchecked from day to day and week to week, we inevitably put them (and ourselves) in a vulnerable position of attack. Ask them questions…and keep asking them questions even if they are hesitant to respond. Take interest in their subjects, their friendships, their activities, their sports, their likes and dislikes. Most children may find this annoying and even irritating at times, but they will look back twenty years from now and be thankful for parents who were involved with their lives. If we, as parents, do not take interest in what our children are doing, I assure you, the enemy will (and the enemy does).
3. Investigate their digital lives
Statistics and research show that most parents have no real concept as to what their children are doing online. The persona and identity of a young person is constantly challenged and tempted through their social media status. As parents, we go to great lengths to protect our children from external forces. We lock our doors at night, we set our security systems, we install cameras in visible locations…but I wonder what we allow in our homes through the screens of computers, phones, and iPads? Most children are not mentally and spiritually prepared for the vitriol and vile content that streams through their devices. As parents, we should set specific boundaries, make specific restrictions, and communicate specific instructions when it comes to the digital lives of our children.
4. Implement a Christian worldview in your home
Children, at the earliest ages and stages of education are being forced to accept and embrace anti-God, anti-biblical worldviews. Everything from sexuality to gender identity to the definition of marriage is under attack. Our core values must be established and founded upon the truth of Scripture. Sit down and talk to your children about those values. As a family, discuss your worldview, your ideology, your convictions. As you communicate what you believe, be sure to explain to them why you believe what you believe. When cultural and social issues arise in conversation, take them to Scripture and find the answers.
5. Influence them with your own walk with God
The old saying is still applicable today, “You can’t talk the talk, if you don’t walk the walk.” You can have accountability systems in place, you can put protective software on their computers, you can know all of their friends by name, BUT, if you do not consistently and continually walk with the Lord yourself, then your spiritual influence will have little to no effect upon their lives. Not only does your children need to see you walking daily with God, but may I remind you, God is worthy of your devotion. Read your Bible, enter your prayer closet, bring them to church, discuss spiritual matters, and love the Lord with your whole heart. Your walk today will have a generational impact on your child’s path tomorrow.
Let’s join our hearts together in prayer as our children face the frontlines. The bell has rung, school is now in session.
