Students Need More than a Mental Health Advisor

School districts continue to struggle with disorderly and troublesome students. Administrators expect teachers to manage disruptive behavior in the classroom. Teachers expect support from their administration. Parents expect the system to provide whatever is needed for their child. The cycle continues with few positive results materializing.

The system continues to cry out for more money, more resources, and more of the same. Though more money is often provided and claimed to be used to hire additional health professionals and counselors, the current paradigm isn’t working. Increasing budgets for additional personnel, security tools, or programs isn’t making a noticeable difference.

The Core Issue

How much longer must we travel this road leading to further demoralization? It’s time for time-tested tactics to be deployed. We must move away from the current progressive rhetoric if children are to thrive. The destructive ideology of CRT, DEI, and social justice has exponentially amplified students’ poor behavior. A clear delineation between right and wrong has been muddled. Students are not disciplined or held accountable for the poor choices they are making. What’s worse is the harm being done to self and others.

It appears many are waking up to the realization that hearts are at the core of most issues. When children believe they are inferior, are told they are dumb, or aren’t successful in some capacity, it affects them. The feeling of rejection is manifested differently for each child. Society has taught children to believe everyone is a winner, which is a lie. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and no one is good at everything. In addition, maturity levels matter.

2024: A Year of Enlightenment

Florida passed HB 931 in 2024 for school districts to “adopt a policy to authorize volunteer school chaplains to provide support, services, and programs to students’ in an effort to help children with the stress and anxiety they are experiencing. The Florida Department of Education identifies the applicable criteria for volunteer chaplains. In addition, the department announced a model policy to assist districts with implementing the program.

Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters mandated in 2024 that the Bible be returned to the public-school classroom. Grades 5 through 12 have guidelines requiring students to consider the literary elements biblical accounts have had on Western civilization. High school students will be assigned essays to consider literature, history, and cultural significance. Not only will every classroom have a physical copy of the Bible, but it will also be required to have the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Ten Commandments.

Louisiana passed HB71 during the 2024 legislative session, requiring the 10 commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms. The law took effect January 1, 2025, and followed precedence based on a 2005 Supreme Court decision recognizing it is permissible to display the Ten Commandments on government property. The bill highlights the Mayflower Compact (1620), Declaration of Independence (1776), and Northwest Ordinance (1787) as fundamental to civil and religious liberty. Fear not—the law does not require expenditure of public funds to purchase displays but allows for donations.

Education Roots Built on Religion

Those crying separation of church and state are ignorant of the founding of our constitutional republic. Since the 1600s, the Ten Commandments have been rooted in public education. The principal textbook, The New England Primer, by Benjamin Harris, was published around 1688 and used for more than 150 years. William McGuffey, Miami University professor and Ohio University president, wrote McGuffey Readers in the early 1830s. It was one of the most popular textbooks used to teach reading. Then there’s Noah Webster’s 1783 American Spelling Book, which was used in public schools all across the nation until 1975 and has never been out of print.

Our nation is grounded in a belief in Godly principles and not merely for those who have a Bible and go to church. Our founding documents, government buildings, and legal system adhere to many fundamentals found in the Bible. Regardless of one’s belief system, it is crucial to have hope. That is what faith provides—hope and comfort during trying times. Life is challenging. For this reason, we must eliminate the demons and inspire principled truths that sustain a moral society.