In the wake of the "lockdown' of Merrylands High - when 5 teens went on a machete rampage attacking teachers and students, and injuring 18 people " media has mostly focused on whether violent "gang' behaviour is growing in our schools.
Don't be deceived. Some reporting is exaggerated.
Yet there is also truth in the press reports. Teaching today is not a piece of cake. It is emotionally and physically draining. It is not for the faint-hearted.
And especially for the committed Christian, in some environments it can be personally confronting. All the more reason why supporting the ministry of Christian teachers should be a priority for every one of our churches. They are shaping our future.
But the tabloid headlines don't help us to see the real disease that prevents us supporting Christian teachers appropriately.
I'm sorry to say this, but most Christian schools, including our Anglican schools, are afflicted with a disease known as "SSD syndrome'. The same syndrome pervades the whole church. Pretty much everyone I know is a carrier. I've had it and I struggle against it all the time.
"SSD' is the sacred-secular divide.
Mark Greene from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity describes SSD as "the pervasive belief that some parts of our life are not really important to God - work, school, leisure - but anything to do with prayer, church or chapel services, church-based activities and evangelism is."
SSD explains why we pray for missionaries in church, but we don't usually pray for congregation members whose work from Monday to Friday is (or ought to be) every bit as much mission-oriented as those working overseas.
How frequently do we pray for Sunday School teachers but not for the school teachers in our congregation?
SSD explains why so few Christian university students can give you a biblical perspective on the subjects they are studying. Few trained doctors or nurses, engineers or construction workers can do much better. Who helps these people to think biblically in these areas?
So pervasive is SSD syndrome that in Christian schools we unconsciously section off "mission' to the work of the school chaplain or the volunteers at Crusaders. Then we devote over 90 percent of school time to "secular" subjects and the pursuit of sporting and co-curricula cultural activities.
I'm not pointing the finger at any one in particular. The SSD syndrome has been around for a long time. But that is not sufficient reason why we should not put energy into its eradication.
There is no doubt that Christian classroom teachers transform lives. This is not just empty rhetoric. For some children, their class teacher exercises more influence over their impressionable minds than their parents. For teens, their teachers may be modelling the only taste of Christlikeness they will ever see.
We must encourage more committed Christians to enter teaching as a vocation.
But it is not enough that they just work in schools. It is critical that they be equipped to do education Christianly, so that no matter what subject they teach, the love of Christ and a biblical worldview flows naturally through all they do.
In July, Moore College, in conjunction with the Education Commission, will offer the Diploma in Biblical Studies for teachers by intensives to equip them to be better ambassadors for Christ
Pray for Christian teachers: that they will reflect the love of God to those they teach and through their teaching contribute to the transformation of thousands of young lives.
Dr Bryan Cowling is Executive Director of the Anglican Education Commission
