Boring School Policy

(part 4 of a 4 part series on literature)
Pity for a few moments your local neighborhood Christian school administrator who must preside over a curriculum which honors God but also prepares students for further academic pursuits with a first rate education that includes exposure to some of the “greats” of the literary world. It is a thin line which he must walk. Over the past few years as our school has entered the nether world of secondary education, quite a number of voices have made themselves heard over our literature choices for the high school classes. It has been an education in and of itself. Choices were made and defended. Choices were made and regretted. Through it all, several guidelines have emerged which are leading us through this literary minefield.

First of all, there must flow some general edifying theme that should lift up the human spirit to higher virtues or the heroic. It is certainly acknowledged that moral virtues can be taught through stories of the negative. Scripture records many such stories in which bad examples warn us of paths not to follow. A good Christian literature teacher can take just about any literary work and use it to teach virtue simply from bad characters following bad choices. This, however, places us in a very teacher-dependent mode. Not all of us are so trained or so inclined to search out positives in a jumble of negatives. There are enough literature choices out there that do include heroic themes or where virtue is discussed or portrayed in positive terms. This will rule out those works that are dark, severely depressing, or end in meaninglessness where life has no purpose. Modern literature especially is rife with such examples.

Secondly, it must not be full of gratuitous (unwarranted, unnecessary, unessential) violence or vulgarity which masquerades as realism. Much of modern literature goes out of its way to shock or describe in detail that which only serves to titillate the unsanctified parts of our imaginations. While acknowledging that some “acclaimed” literature does contain the vulgar or profane, it is not our part to drag our students through material that is plainly over the top with salacious scenes or vocabulary. We leave such highly controversial decisions in the hands of parents alone to make those choices.

Thirdly, there are literature choices that are commonly made for high school course work that demand a high level of literary criticism to understand the redemptive qualities of a particular work. We prefer to leave such study to a college level curriculum, again because this places high demands upon all involved to be able to delve into them and separate the wheat from the chaff. Highly teacher-dependent coursework at RECA leads to frustrated parents who must then operate in the dark guessing at direction and purpose.

Fourthly, we do wish to adequately prepare students for college by not avoiding some truly standard literature selections just because they contain some objectionable vocabulary or because certain adult themes are treated therein. They must first pass all the criteria above and be suitable for the age level of our students. Principle #3 of our Guidelines for difficult or controversial topics says it best: (students) are to become increasingly proficient in distinguishing between good and evil and increasingly inclined to reject the evil in favor of the good by learning to evaluate all with which they come into contact by the standards and examples contained in the Word of God. By doing so, they will develop the ability to reach others without sacrificing those habits of thought, attitude, and conduct which are distinctively Christian and necessary for true obedience to the Lord. (RECA Policy Manual, pp. 48-49)

In reading this portion of our policy manual again, I was impressed. You may want to do so as well.