Culture

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

A brave young public school student chose to celebrate the Creator of the earth on Earth Day rather than succumb to the pressures of political correctness

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Berit Kjos
Kjos Ministries
April 25, 2001

Antonio Peck didn't know his New York school wanted to change his values. So when his teacher told him to make an environmental poster for parent's day, the kindergartner simply combined what he had learned in class with the message on his heart. He drew people picking up litter, children holding hands around the globe, and a a white-robed man kneeling in one corner.

His poster failed the test of political correctness. Antonio didn't tell anyone that the man in the corner was Jesus, but his teacher guessed. Later, when his poster hung on a wall along with nearly 80 others, his picture looked different. One corner had been folded up, hiding the kneeling man and part of Antonio's name.

Antonio felt embarrassed and confused. Why shouldn't the Creator of the earth be included? It didn't make sense.

His parents agreed. They hired a lawyer and sued the school for violating their son's First Amendment right to express his Christian worldview. According to an article by Jason Pierce,[1] the unrepentant school denied any injustice.

"This is simply a case of requiring students to be responsive to the educational curriculum," explained Paul Battaglia, the attorney who represents Baldwinsville Elementary School in Syracuse. "It is not at all a case of great religious significance, but simply a case where a student was asked to... perform a particular lesson and give back certain material and failed to do so."[1]

But Antonio did fulfill the assignment. He included the environmental vision of earth stewardship and unity. His only "failure" was his refusal to delete Jesus.

"He didn't follow the teacher's instructions despite given two opportunities to do so," Battaglia said. "It's unfortunate, but the school has particular curriculum standards it must enforce."

Curriculum standards with no flexibility -- even in kindergarten? Why?

In the minds of educational change agents, kindergarten is not too early to teach world citizenship and obedience to a global ethic. Many would love to start sooner. So when the states finally usher their children into public classrooms at age five or six, government schools have little time to lose. Before a child’s home-taught beliefs are too firmly implanted, teachers must begin to...

instill the new global values
break down resistance built by traditional values.

The new vision of the world includes planetary servants who recycle and reuse the earth's resources (that's good), pick up any visible litter (I learned that as a child in Norway) and see themselves as members of a global bio-family (that's not good).

The pantheistic spirituality taught in schools through multicultural myths and "experiences" helps build a religious foundation for this envisioned oneness. Politically correct assignments that force students to retell the latest lesson in global unity through journaling, storytelling and drawing pictures help seal the new vision in the child's mind.[2]

Naturally, Jesus doesn't fit this image. His presence blurs the vision. It could confuse other students who are "learning" to conform their faith to more appropriate models for a global spirituality.

That's why Christian students who love the Bible and follow Jesus often face classroom intimidation and censorship. Such punishment works well on most children. In a nation trained to crave human praise more than God's approval, few will endure exclusion or rejection for Jesus' sake.

But Antonio stood his ground and passed the test -- twice. He would not remove Jesus from his illustration of the world. While the disciple Peter denied His Master three times, a little boy in New York chose to face humiliation and reproof rather than compromise his faith. So Jesus stayed and Antonio won.

May we be as brave.

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1.Jason Pierce, Poster With Picture of Jesus Lands Kindergartner in Court, CCNSNews.com, April 3, 2001.
2. See "Saving the Earth."