At my local state schools, kids in primary schools are subject from kindergarten to explicit sexual conduct. Kids who are 5 years old. I know, I’ve called Docs about it several times. I wouldn’t send my kids there.

At the local high school, there are probably about 10 students going on to year eleven and twelve, and you can only imagine what goes on there based on what I saw in the primary schools.

Granted I live in a rougher area than most, but when it comes to the protection of my children and their education, I’m gonna do what’s best for them. I went to private school, none of my friends were Christian and I didn’t turn out a snotty nosed snap (i think!). Once I got to 18 I got out in the real world, and it wasn;t too much of a shock. I think there are a lot of assumptions people have about both private and public schools, that are really just assumptions.

i know kids who have christian families, go to church & youth group every week but have little to no christian influence at school and they end up living a kind of double life…. and sadly for a lot of them the world is big and attractive and wins their hearts in the end.
i don’t think the solution is to get rid of christian schools – i think it is to get us into non-christian schools. by US i mean teachers, chaplains, scripture teachers, people to run lunch time groups etc. public schools are not just a mission field for students to work in – we can go there too

“Why can’t year 12s lead it?” no reason at all but as you would have experienced its hard work! if you had someone coming into the school (or a christian teacher at the school willing) to meet you and that one other guy and to encourage the two of and read the bible with you and pray with you, what difference would that have made? maybe it would have meant that you guys would have kept going and more would have joined eventually
actually on this point i concede a little – i think we should encourage christian kids in non-christian schools to seek out other christians and find a way to meet together even if its just 2 of them…. but thinking in the ideal it would be nice if they had someone to encourage them

About your questions:
1 – It’s impossible to know. It will forever be an unreality because, unlike a science experiment where you can predict the end if you know the starting conditions, God’s sovereign will is (thankfully) completely determinative and totally unpredictable.
So, under God, all things are possible. With prayer, a church/youth group, Christian family, and the strengthened Christian fellowship now at these schools… who knows? In fact, you really only need any one of those things. (eg one great youth leader can provide all the support needed by a Christian in a nonChristian family and school.)
Wait – You don’t need any of them. A Christian with a Bible can stay Christian. Heck, a Christian without a Bible can stay Christian.
I know, I know, pastorally we know that support is really, really important… my point is that the support is not what keeps people Christian, God is.

2. Why can’t year 12s lead it? I tried to start one in my year 12 year, but there was only 1 other guy and we weren’t close.
Alternatively, all the Christian teachers who’ve been kicked out and are now forced to teach in secular schools can run it.
Know what I’m saying?

i can see that a lot of thought has gone into your ideas which is great
my questions are – how many of those christian you have hypothetically moved to public schools will stay christian without the same level of support and care around them?
&
personally i would LOVE to see a lunchtime group at every public school and bible studies for every grade, but who is running those groups and caring for the kids? reminds of Jesus words ‘the harvest is plenty but the workers are few’

i don’t think your wrong…. and i don’t think i’m wrong…. i just haven’t yet figured out how you make the ideal and reality work together.

but i’m not done trying and i’m certainly not done praying and praising God for the work that he is doing in christian and non-christian school alike!

I think Sydney Christian schools are slightly different. eg I had no idea Abbotsleigh was a Christian school until recently. The headmistress and some teachers aren’t Christians either, right? So I’d say we’re talking a slightly different kettle of fish there.

But I’m aware that even in coastal Christian schools a large percent are not Christian. On this point, I’d refer you to point 4 in the post above. A number of my friends who went to christian schools have, on separate occasions, expressed the difficulty to witness to their friends because they get so much of it already. It’s your classic innoculation case. Just enough Jesus to protect you from him.
Additionally, I’d refer you to point 3 in my post. In your example, you’ve got 120 Christian girls in one school. What are the implications of this for the surrounding, non-Christian schools? These bigger, less-innoculated, arguably more needy schools are drained of Christian witness.
There were 2 Christians in my grade. I’d say that’s probably above average for schools in this area, though maybe about right. There are about 30 High schools on the Central Coast. (a rough count of this site) Of those, 7 are Catholic and 5 are Christian. Let’s say 20 people at each Christian school are Christian in each grade (probably about right, under for some and over for others).
If we shut all 5 schools, every one of the 25 remaining schools gets 4 Christians in every grade.
At my school, that would be a 200% increase.
That’s 24 more Christians across the grades into each High School. That’s enough for a thriving lunch-time fellowship. Heck, its enough for a lunchtime Bible study group in every grade.
What a difference that would have made to my experience of being a Christian at a secular school!

There are, by God’s grace, a bunch of Christians now at a local state high school – most are children of paid staff of our church, actually. Last year at that school 6 people were saved.
Multiply that by 25. (subject of course to God’s good pleasure)

Yes, people get saved at Christian schools – praise God. My heart is for those who don’t at non-Christian schools.

Yes, Christian schools are a great mission field. Problem is, there’s a greater one still.

“and i know many teenagers who go to Xn schools and spend all their time trying to evangelise their friends.”
Me too. In my experience, they tend to be the exception, and they tend to be weary and frustrated at the lack of fruit.
I wonder how they’d find non-Christian schools.

But thanks for your thoughts, Kate, you make lots of good points and bring a very valuable counter-perspective, which is much needed.

my ministry passion is for youth – so this is a pretty captivity topic for me. i’m at bible college now and planning to work as a school chaplain when i finish. the reason i have this passion for youth is i fell away from God after high school (i went to a non-Xn school). i agree with you haysey that it isn’t during high school that but in the transition that most people fall. but i also believe the way to help stop this is to give as much pastoral care as possible in the high school years, to grow teenagers to maturity in the faith, so they can handle the tough stuff in the transition.
i also agree that pastoral care is, in theory, the responsibility of family and church. but in reality teenagers spend most of their time at school, so this is going to effect how we best care for them pastorally.

i think that you assume to much about the percentage of kids at Xn schools that are actually Xn (or even claim to be). I recently preached at chapel at a Xn girls school – out of the 900 girls there only about 120 of them have any claim to being Xn….. thats phenomenal! and what a huge opportunity the Xn studies teachers/chaplains have to minister to almost 800 girls every day.
in my experience these kinds of figures are not unusual in Xn schools. and i know many people who were converted because they went to Xn schools – one of who is the youth pastor i worked for last year.
and i know many teenagers who go to Xn schools and spend all their time trying to evangelise their friends.
so in terms of missional work – i think Xn schools are a great mission field.

totally agree with you about sporting teams – DON’T JOIN A XN TEAM – take a mate and join a normal team and share the gospel with them

Hrmmm… I don’t think this is necessarily a complete waste, but this is not the main motivation for going to parties. Not everyone is in that state, there will be people are hardly drunk at all. If you go for the conversation, those are the most likely, and most desirable, people with which to converse.

But conversations at the party aren’t the only reason to go. People should also go so they can:
make friends with non-Christians
love their friends by looking after them
witness by their different behaviour
observe their friends outside of the school environment
– all of which will lead to more, and more fulfilling, conversations later on as you talk to your new friends, who know of your love for them, who see your different behaviour, and who cannot pretend to be living a repentant life.

“If I tell my daughter she may not attend said drunken party, please, don’t undermine my authority by telling her she should go. “

Absolutely! I don’t mean to suggest Christian kids disobey their parents!

What would have happened, had you bluntly but sensitively challenged someone – “Do you call yourself a Christian?” Do you think that would have helped anything?

Ha, yea that doesn’t really work as alot will call themselves christians and still do today, although its clearly seen that there not.

Alot just think that if they believe in God/Jesus that there christian and but don’t think about their daily sins and how they can stop. eg. binge drinking, lust, sex etc..