Posted to this page where Pastor Randy Brehms speaks out about sports and video games in Adventist schools.

Randy, thanks for your post. I went to an Adventist gradeschool, and then to a Catholic high school, where I got my start with computers partly from teaching myself to write my own clone of some of the early video games. As the parent of a 20 year old who spent a few years in our small Adventist church schools, I have had some encounters with the school boards.

Another area of worldly influence in our schools is the drama clubs. I was in more than one school play as a kid. But our school plays were directly based on Bible stories, I remember having some part in a play about the image of King Nebuchadnezer, and Daniel and his friends in the furnace. I don't remember what part I played, but I remember it was interesting. The plays I sometimes see our kids doing now have scarecely more relation to the Bible than the use of some Biblical names.

I think it can be easily proven that while there are a lot of possible downsides with computers, especially those hooked to the unfiltered internet, I'm hesitant to remove the incredible opportunities that computers present to the kids. While I'd want to be a parent who supports the school board, if my child showed skill at writing his own video games, I'd be irked if that activity were prohibited. And yet technology isn't the answer to everything. Those who think technology can replace the one-on-one audience that Christ used, they are just as wrong as the luddite.

Technology and communications are presenting so many challenges for us today in raising our kids. Somehow we need to help our kids to understand the value of time, and the need to employ as much as possible in a productive pursuit, while also learning the balance of relaxing in ways that don't dishonor our creator.

I am alarmed by trends to make our schools fact mills just like the worldly teach to test schools. The emphasis on the practical needs to be maintained. I hope it isn't too late for our schools, but for now I remain committed to home schooling as the best way to be sure about my child's schooling.

Read more at my blog post today: http://www.bobsgear.com/x/RoA2AQ