Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Well, American education is experiencing a seismic shift.

Since the pandemic, parents have been opting out of public schools by the millions,

choosing alternatives like homeschooling, private schooling, or hybrid models.

Last year, the federal government's nation's report card found that math and reading scores in the U.S. are at their lowest

levels in decades. Tire school districts nationwide are described as failing, dropout factories.

And at some elite colleges, professors are reporting that they have students that are unable to read a book.

Teachers are also struggling, especially when it comes to student behavior.

A recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, which included nearly 15,000 pre-K-12 teachers, administrators, school, staff, and counselors, found that, and I quote,

33% of teachers reported at least

one incident of verbal harassment or violence. 18% of school psychologists, 15% of school administrators,

and 22% of other school staff also reported at least one violent incident by a student.

Now, a central aspect of the Christian notion that humans are

made in the image of God is how God structured human relationships. Now, that makes sense, of course,

because of who God has revealed himself to be, an eternal relationship between Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit. In his image, and therefore like him, we do not merely do relationships. We are

relational creatures. The Bible then describes how these relationships with God, with ourselves,

with others, and with the rest of creation have been broken by sin, and even better, how they can

be restored. Thus, a core problem that must be addressed in education or anything

else human-related is our relationships, how they've been broken by the fall and are in need of

restoration. This is a vision of humanity far more accurate than the others on offer. In a naturalistic

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