A study from the Barna Group, reported in March, found that a majority of Protestant pastors believe school is a negative influence on a child’s spiritual development.
Asked to choose from a range of organisations and groupings including family and friends, schools ranked alongside a child’s friends and peers as being seen as primarily negative influences on children, with 61% of Protestant leaders holding to that view. In some cases, the perceived negative influence of a child’s school or friend group outweighed a perceived positive influence by double.
Culture and society were ranked as the most negative influence, with 94% of Protestant pastors responding that these had a negative influence on a student’s spiritual growth.
