by Vince Cascone
I am always amazed at how informed our young people are on so many topics due to the amount of information they can get through such resources as the internet.
That being said, we are all aware of the negative influences our children can be exposed to on the internet. Ponder for a moment some of the current topics in the news and happenings from around the world that you and I are exposed to on a regular basis.
It is both challenging and frightening to try to imagine how these things are viewed through the eyes of our children.
A friend of mine who is a strong, faith-filled man focuses on raising his children in the Catholic faith. Two years ago, he made the decision to send them to a public school.
Over the last few months, he has shared with me many concerns he has had regarding the curriculum and other information the school was presenting to the students. He has talked to me about many of the things to which his son is being exposed that are contrary to what he believes. He has struggled to understand why the school would highlight such things as gender ideology, homosexuality and pornography to children.
Basically, he believes the school is going beyond its appropriate role in addressing these things he feels are his responsibility to discuss with his children. To be sure, I have heard from many parents of public school students who share these same concerns and who have inquired about our Catholic schools.
On March 29, the press office of the Vatican released a document from the Congregation for Catholic Education entitled, “The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue.”
Regarding parents, this document states: “The first persons responsible for education are the parents, who have a natural right and obligation to educate their children.”
It goes on to say: “Catholic parents are also bound by the obligation to provide for the Catholic education of their children.” I am proud to hear the often-made comment by parents that our Catholic schools provide a community atmosphere that feels like a family. You feel this when you walk into one of our schools. The partnership between parents and the school is of the utmost importance to us.
That same document goes on to say: “It is necessary for parents to cooperate closely with teachers, getting involved in decision-making processes concerning the school community and their children.” The parent-school relationship is what makes Catholic schools so successful.
The Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas are safe places for students where they will be taught the time-tested truths of the Catholic Church led by God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
They are schools where we team with parents to make sure the children know they are loved and cared about and where they can build relationships with God who loves them and knows them each by name.
