The Prophet Said...just kidding, no he didn't

When it comes to raising children in the faith, there is often an interesting dilemma.  There is, of course, homeschooling but many families are not comfortable with that idea.  So they could send their children to a public school or to a catholic school.

A public school stays away from any discussion of religion so as to avoid causing anyone in their diverse student population to feel unwelcome by the institution.  But this also means that learning is not faith based and the moral fabric there is suspect.  A catholic school has a very clear religious allegiance so there is no need to walk on eggshells to please a diverse student body.  They all know that the school is catholic.  However, a student in class with a teacher or elsewhere on campus with his or her peers may have his or her guard down when it comes to academic or social teaching.

In a catholic school, this means that if the teaching is not quite right, a student could be misled.  On the other hand, in a public school, a student has no expectation that what he or she is taught will be consistent with the way of the faith.  His or her guard will be up and everything he or she receives will be with a grain of salt.

However, public school is a decidedly more hostile environment to living the faith but one could also argue that the student is in a greater disposition to resist such hostility while in that environment.  Of course, withstanding such an environment would require an almost superhuman strength in the faith.  Most children will not understand being in this world while not being of this world.

Catholic school would at least offer some relief from such strong hostility found in public school, but then there is the whole bit about being aware of the wolf in sheep's clothing.  The devil is more likely to infest a catholic school with apostates (false teachers) than a public school for the simple reason that it's just more productive for him.  It would be like poisoning a pristine high mountain stream (where we might not filter and/or treat the water before drinking it) versus poisoning a stagnant body of water near civilisation (where we would only drink, or even touch, the water if it's treated and/or filtered).  Obviously the question about public school versus catholic school is not one that's easily answered.

Matthew 5: 17-19