The Shepherd, May 2009
THE RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING OF CHILDREN
By Archpriest S. Shchukin
RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING AT SCHOOL
Translator’s Note: This section is rather dated, and pertains largely to the situation in the United States at the time when Fr Shchukin wrote his treatise. The present-day situation in Britain is undoubtedly far more grievous than he could have imagined, and furthermore church schools and parish schools are very few and far between. However, we include this section, hoping that parents will glean some insights from it.
IN OUR DAYS the opinion is put about that religious education should be excluded from schools. This view is supported by the Protestant churches, which believe that the Church must be separated from the state. We now see such a separation in the United States, where even prayer before class is excluded from school. Because of this in America, church or parish schools have sprung up.
So, from this what appears to be the rôle of the church school? It has to fill those gaps in religious education which the state schools leave: to give children a religious understanding which will strengthen their children’s faith, which will instruct them to understand it, and to defend it against various atheistic and sectarian assaults. Thus the church school continues the religious upbringing of the children, which was begun in the home. In their early catechism lessons, they learn in a more systematic form much of that which they should have been told at home: the significance of prayer, sacred history, the keeping of the church festivals. Later, in the senior classes, they become acquainted with liturgy and catechism proper. Finally, if time allows, their teacher can acquaint them with the particulars of the other Christians confessions, which exist in America. Instruction in the prayers and the services also presupposes that the children have a grounding in Church-Slavonic [This, of course was addressed to Russians, at a time when most Russian churches in the diaspora were still only using Church Slavonic. The next paragraph is devoted entirely to this subject and the next to Russian language, culture and history, and we have omitted them as it is irrelevant to our present pastoral situation, although we accept that, for those from this cultural background (as indeed for those from Arab, Greek, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Georgian or other Orthodox cultures), these things can be invaluable aids in maintaining an Orthodox consciousness - transl.]
A parish school is a good aid to the family in the religious formation of their children. However, parents are in no way obliged to send their children there, though it relieves them of a great responsibility. The resources of a Saturday school are often very limited. The children only attend once a week. The teachers scarcely manage to instill some knowledge and explain projects, but making that knowledge one’s own is something that must be achieved within the home. … The burden must be borne primarily by the family. The parents still must not only help the child in completing the projects set, but they must further the school’s work. If the parents are not taking this into account, then the school must address this.
Thus we see that the parents’ care for their children goes much further than that of the school. The school only imparts the initial and broadest knowledge of religious instruction. Its application in life necessarily depends on the family, wherein the children spend the greater part of their time. Without supplementary religious instruction in the family, in the circumstances we find in the diaspora, the church school is practically useless. Being surrounded, as it were, by a alien culture, Orthodox Christians must stand up for themselves. For this reason parents should support not only the parish school, but every [church] community project, the library, lectures, youth groups, summer camps, and all the rest. All these are useful and parents and children should support these initiatives, because no one but we ourselves will.
Parents should support the work of the church school and employ all their abilities to raise standards. They should ensure that all that is required of the children by the school is done, both with regard to learning and in the religious sphere. They must not allow petty criticisms of the way the school is run or of the individual teachers to undermine the children’s trust in the school and their love of it. Any dissatisfaction with the school should be dealt with through talking to the school administration. Similarly parents must not be slow in enrolling their children in the school, because this makes the teaching more difficult.
In conclusion, we must note that neither the family, nor the school, nor even the Church itself, can bring up children by itself. This must be a combined effort, with the concerted efforts of all three agencies. For this reason, we need more to pull together, to work in unison and together, and this will more effectively help the upbringing of our children. A situation where the school operates separately from the Church, or where the parents do not support and work with the school, is utterly inadmissible.
……to be continued in the next issue with
“Upbringing in a Family Far from the Church”
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