At church last week I was fortunate to hear a message from Mr Craig Tubman, who is the School Chaplain at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

In speaking on Ephesians 6, which tells children to obey their parents, Craig revealed some very interesting truths about changing culture in relation to children. At the time Ephesians was written, under Roman law, fathers had the right to inflict punishments on their children – whether that be beating, starving or even killing them. A father could therefore do this without punishment.

Thankfully, our view of children has changed. Under a Christian worldview, we see every child as being made in God’s image. They are inherently valuable regardless of their personal characteristics or achievements. They are all loved by God so much, that He gave His Son so that they may have eternal life.

Non-Christians have also developed a view of the value of children. Although they are not seen as being made in the image of God, they are seen as valuable. It is important to know this is a Christian influence on the secular world and that such a high view of children (and women) comes from Christian thinking.

How does a non-Christian justify the value of children? One source we can look to is French Philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who developed an idea of the ‘state of nature’. His idea is simple: human beings can be their authentic selves when they don’t have to conform to external expectations. Only then can they be who they really are.

Dr Carl Truman says in his book 'The Rise of the Modern Self' that this state of nature approach has led to so much value being placed on individual freedom that there has been a flip in the role of children. He says “Whereas in a society based on, say, Confucian ideals, age is to be respected because age brings with it wisdom, the Western world of today generally credits youth with wisdom and sees old age as corrupt, myopic, or behind the times.”

We can see this in a small example - the development of the insult “OK Boomer”. It is a comment made by younger people that is clearly designed to discount the thoughts of anyone from an older generation.

Craig works in a school and gave another  example from his experience. He finds it is not uncommon when speaking with parents for them to lament their teenager is staying up till 2 or 3am on their phones. When Craig suggests the parents take away the phone, they gasp and say ‘we couldn’t do that!!’.

There is a delicate balance here. We do want to value children and we do want them to become the full potential of who they were made to be. But we also need to be adults and recognise the wisdom of older generations in speaking into their lives. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Teachers and parents are called to disciple children – to place boundaries over what they can and cannot do rather than giving them complete freedom to find the answers on their own.

Year 12 Ancient History

A wonderful conclusion to the HSC year for Ancient History, with a joint Macquarie University revision session with The Entrance High School. Students were presented an analysis of Xerxes through sources by a PHD candidate to see how his representations have evolved over time. In session 2 they partook in a simulated archaeological examination to draw conclusions on the life of a Roman soldier. In session 3 they were presented with an overview of the people, religions and women of Pompeii.

Mr Haines