What is the thought behind policies like this?

Additional rules are often created as a result of those who care to split hairs and cause trouble.

 

No it doesn't.

No it doesn't. They may just not feel they are equipped to deal with them. It certainly may add costs to running the school.

 

MK, I hear you about the dress standards at some Christian schools. I know of one school that had three pages in their student handbook dedicated to boy's hairstyles! Talk about "splitting hairs!"

As for the issue with kids with disabilities, most Christian schools do not have the resources or money available to deal with this. Unlike public schools, they don't get government funding to hire special teachers or aides for the hearing impaired, mobility impaired, etc. and they often do not have handicapped accessible bathrooms, wheelchair lifts, special computers, or handicapped-friendly playground equipment. To provide these things would mean a tuition increase for the rest of the students.

 

Over time more rules are created because of unforeseen situations that occurred.

 

God is a God of rules and order.
Why shouldn't those who claim to raise children to His credit have rules, too ?

 

Rules should be scriptural, not man's opinion. Too many of man's rules in Christian homes cause children to rebel against their parents and against God.

 

I gotta be honest ... This strikes me as very Pharisaical. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23).

Jesus seemed pretty clear that sin, including rebellion (as evidenced in many of these sins listed) come from within, not from without. Rules don't cause children to rebel. Sinful hearts cause children to rebel.

 

I can't speak for others but for me that has been, is and will be true as long as I'm on earth. My heart has been the problem.

 

It's Pharasaical to enforce man-made rules as "God's standards" when they have no biblical basis, then tell kids they are rebelling against God if they do not blindly conform to those rules.

I've heard parents complain about their rebellious children and it was never about the child's heart, but about the child not following rules. Somewhere in fundamentalism we've gotten the idea that following man's rules equals spirituality and a good attitude. When I was growing up in a legalistic home, short hair on boys and skirts on girls was holy and hair touching the ears and jeans on women was SIN! Problem was, I never found that in the Bible.

The Bible clearly tells fathers not to provoke their children to wrath, but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Rules should be made and explained according to scripture.

 

ABCGrad, I can't help but notice you didn't deal with the text that directly addresses the cause of sin. Jesus does not mention rules in there as a cause of rebellion.

You got Bible for this? Or is it a man-made rule? Cuz I don't recall anywhere that the Bible says this. (I don't know anyone who actually says this about rules either, and I have been around rules a good deal more than most here, probably. But be that as it may ... )

So? Some parent is wrong about the issue and somehow that makes JEsus wrong? I don't agree with that at all. Rebellious hearts are often seen in children not following rules. They are often disguised when rebellious hearts do follow rules.

That's not in the Bible, but that didn't cause you to rebel. According to the Bible (which is supposed to be the authority according to you), the Bible says that rebellion comes out of the heart, not the rulebook and not legalistic parents.

Absolutely, and many fail. But again, what does the Bible say about the source of rebellion?

Is this a man-made rule? Cuz I don't recall this in the Bible either?

Obviously, ABCGrad, I am having a bit of fun here, but isn't it obvious that your own position is not a "biblical one" according to the standard you want? We all recognize the need for "extra-biblical" rules. Some people abuse them to be sure. But no one wants to live without them.

And the fact is that Jesus taught that rebellion is caused by our sinful heart, not by our parent's (or school's) rules. We need to get to the heart of the problem, no pun intended.

I don't have a problem with much of what you say, but I am pointing out the fallacy that rules cause rebellion. Jesus said they don't. Rebellion comes from within.

 

Of course sin comes from the heart, as you pointed out from scripture. I'm not denying that. Rebellion against GOD is sin. However, legalistic rules incite rebellion when abused. It provokes a child to anger and frustration and makes them WANT to rebel. As parents, we have a responsibility to nurture our children so they know it's not the outward appearance, but the inside (the heart) that pleases God. When kids are programmed to obediently follow rules, like little robots, without being allowed to think for themselves, I'll guarantee they will either rebel or become very depressed and/or legalistic themselves.

Yes, there are times when rules are necessary without much explaining. We teach youngsters not to play in the street or not to get into cars with strangers. So of course some rules are needed. My problem is when rules of preference are taught as God's rules and one is taught they must follow those man made rules in order to please God and they are "rebelling" if they grow up and abandon those rules.

 

From my experience, rebellion comes from rules that are enforced only part of the time and children who are taught that it is somebody else's fault that they were tricked into doing something they shouldn't do.

Parents must be careful when making rules; that those rules can be fairly and will be fairly enforced.

All in all, rebellion almost always starts with rules and standards that are not upheld and that is usually the adults fault but the child must be held accountable for their actions as well.

Rebellion is not the result of too many rules it is the result of inconsistent rules.

My sons (grown with children of their own) have thanked me for "being in their kool aid all the time". After a while, the boys basically were allowed to choose for themselves, even if it meant choosing different than I would have, but the trust was there and often they saw why they did not choose best and I sometimes saw that some of my concerns were unfounded.

P.S. It may have helped that I had them convinced that the law of the land was that a father can end the existence of one child if the father deems it necessary and I always told them that I am still trying to choose which one of them will qualify.

 

Well, then, maybe because the rules are made to be understood to be "because I said so" instead of explained reasonably and lovingly.
Is it unscriptural for a Christian school, for example, to have their students dress in a way which to their standard is dignified and not "run of the mill", if that is the right expression ?
I would rather have my children dress modestly, and decently, than have them dress like kids dress today from high school to college. Shorts, sandals, tops, tattered jeans, unshaven, etc., of course, that is not to say that all of them dress that way, but most of them do.
But, to each his own opinion, though.
Yours is probably a different time than mine.
In my time, we tried to dress properly and appropriately.
Tattos were for convicts and sailors.
Rings on noses were for headhunters, and the tongue was for tasting food, not to be pierced.
Music was music with meaning in it, not a jumble of unintelligible words that passed for some music today.
Besides, if you think you don't like the school's rules, hey, it's a free country.
Take the kids somewhere else where the dress code meets your approval.

 

It would be more accurate to say that it reveals it.

I'll take that bet. When kids are programmed to obediently follow rules, they learn to love God. The fact is that kids are not prepared to think for themselves. That is why God gave them parents ... to teach them how to think and what to think.

The idea that we can either have rules or concentrate on the inside is a false dilemma. We can and must do both. Nobody here wants to live in a world without man made rules. And nobody here cares whether one's heart is in it when these rules are followed. They are necessary for order in God's good universe.

I think the greater problem is going around complaining about legalism. It teaches kids to complain about legalism rather than learning to live in loving obedience.

 

amen aaaaammmeeeennn!!!!!!