I’ve been meaning to write this ages ago, Br Abû Mûsâ Al-Ḥabashî you right and i do agree with you. After going back to my public school, i became more aware of the things around me, the muslim kids and the non muslim kids and it hit me. If you want to protect your children from the hell fire you wouldn’t send them there. Not that i wasn’t aware before, but now everytime i sat in a class room i was looking around analysing the situation, and subhanAllah the fitnah and the haraam is rife whether its major or minor. Yes, you can remain practicing and worship Allah, but the smoke definately hits you and you won’t escape it no matter where you run.

Whereas, yeah University is much easier and you can choose your own mates, own place and its not crowded, whereas in Public school you know everybody and its very hard to avoid people; male or female. May Allah protect me.

After reading this article alhamdulillah i have decided that i will homescool my kids, and Sr Olivia i think i may be one of your clients in the future *smile* bi’idnillah

The school which I currently operate, Prestige Academy, is designed with homeschooled students in mind, although students who have been schooled in a traditional public or private school will also enjoy it immensely, insha’Allah. But what motivated me was my own passion for education, my own experiences homeschooling and my desire to provide an alternative for families who homeschool but do not feel confident in their ability to educate their children at a highschool level. I pray that Allah makes it of benefit to many families, ameen.

I can only speak for my high school, but the level of free mixing with girls dressed like prostitutes was very high (mind you, at a time when everyone’s hormones are raging), the few practicing Muslims had to really go out of our way to pray their basic salaah, and the pressures to conform were overwhelming. At least to me, it’s obvious and very much expected that many Muslim kids would go astray in such an environment and am baffled that people actually disagree. It’s not as simple as a poor choice of friends. You could be the most religious person in the world and still go astray in such an environment. You could be the best parent in the world and still have your kids go astray (e.g. Prophet Nooh ‘alayhi salaam).

SubhanAllah compare the amount of free-mixing that goes on in the average school to the ‘free-mixing’ that that monk from bani Israa’eel who was put in charge of watching the sister of the two brothers was subjected to. That monk went from the most pious person in town to a fornicating, woman and child murderer who died while prostrating to the devil! And parents are surprised when they put their kids in the public school system and they turn out bad?! Ajeeb!

Now, I’m not trying to say that every kid who goes through the public school system turns out bad, nor am I saying it is the ONLY reason why Muslim kids go astray. I myself am a product of that system, as I’m sure a lot of readers of this blog are, and I know quite a few brothers from high school who are very practicing, but I think it’s obvious that the average high school is not conducive to a person trying to practice their religion. In fact, there are many factors that work against it. In my opinion, many of the initiatives that I see masaajid undertaking in terms of trying to guide the youth are really just damage control for the bad influences those kids get mainly from public school. Therefore, I ask any parents reading this, in the name of Allah, to strongly, STRONGLY, reconsider putting your kids through the public school system. Protect their deen BEFORE their dunyaa’.

As far as University, I don’t think it’s worst than high school and middle school in the context in which we’re speaking. In University you’re a lot more free to choose who you surround yourself with, the pressures to conform are not as high and, at least from my experience, it’s easier to practice your religion. The main danger of University, in my opinion, is shubuhaat whereas in high school it’s shahawaat.

Ameen anonymouse…ameen

If public school really was working for our children, then why do we have so many dropouts and so many children failing? Seriously, why?

Public school can fail children, so can other systems, it really depends on the child, who they are, and what background they are bought up with and most importantly the friends they choose to be with. However, there is some good thier and we can utilise the good. If parents decide not to send thier children thier to protect the, then alhamdulillah there is good in that and they shouldnt get a bashing, however there are parents who do send them there, and they do have their reasons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. May Allah protect us. as a i said i go to public school and i get amazing results last year because i wanted to put the effort it, and kids who dont wont, simple.

There are many issues with public schooling that are quite obvious, but if we aren’t going to be open minded about the harms of this place then we will not accomplish anything. I hope those who promote public school ask themselves the question: If public school really was working for our children, then why do we have so many dropouts and so many children failing? Seriously, why?

There is harm, and i can tell you, it is damaging but we are there and in one way it does make you stronger, i’ve learnt things that i could have not have learnt otherwise, even bad things can benefit you if you take a lesson from it. For example when i give dawah to my cousins or the girls in school, i can talk to them because i know what they have been through.

If you can avoid it avoid it, and may Allah reward you for trying, but if you are there utilise it and do your best.

Also aren’t we supposed to hate the kufr and not the kafir, many people haven’t even recieved the message…Allahu alam…is there an article on the correct understanding of wala al bara. i remember in the Al Kauthar twins of faith conference, sh Yasir spoke abou it and he said: how can we hate every single kafir? like have a natural hate for them, everytime we go to a store, we have this hate, he said it was un natural…InshAllah sh Yasir can clarify that in more detail or any other knowledgeable br or sister.

We shouldn’t bash parents for being concerned about their children and deciding that public school isn’t for them. There are many issues with public schooling that are quite obvious, but if we aren’t going to be open minded about the harms of this place then we will not accomplish anything. I hope those who promote public school ask themselves the question: If public school really was working for our children, then why do we have so many dropouts and so many children failing? Seriously, why?

The truth is that it depends on the household, on the parents and on the kids. It also depends on where you live, what the schools are like, what your priorities are in terms of Deen, etc. The truth is that there are pros and cons to both situations, although personally I find a lot more cons w/ public school than homeschooling.

In the end, nobody is saying that you MUST homeschool or that you MUST send them to public school. We’re all free to choose and agree to disagree.

May Allah guide us to doing that which is best for our Deen and Aakhirah, and keep our children – and ourselves – strong upon Islam and be able to withstand the trials and tribulations of this world in a manner pleasing to Him and which will lead us to Jannah… ameen.

I think some of those statements come from not really knowing what they are talking about. I’ve noticed that several commenters on this site have a propensity towards exaggeration and victimization complexes
Those who did go to public school and had bad experiences probably made very poor choices in friends or were losers who couldn’t make any friends. This is not the public school systems fault. This is the fault of these individuals parents for doing a crappy job at raising them . And its their own fault for not having the guts to stand up for what they were taught and what they believed in. Its really as simple as that.
Quite frankly, if you are that afraid your child will lose their faith simply by attending a public school than it speaks more about your own skills as a parent than the “evil” schools.
Seriously, if you feel you’re children won’t survive in public schools with adult supervision, how the hell are they going to manage in university where they are basically free to do as they please. Oh that’s right I forgot. They’ll be done with university and married by the time they are 18. That means that you’ll be able to drive them to and from classes at uni (since they probably won’t have a license when they attend) and sit behind them in class, hold their hands and walk them to organic chemistry, make sure they write their essays, and pack their lunch for them everyday and make sure they’re drinking their milk and make sure they don’t talk to any of those evil kuffar and make sure they do their prayers and you can even wipe their nose for them when it runs in the middle of developmental biology. And since it is developmental biology make sure you cover their eyes if the professor shows pictures of any naughty bits. God forbid their eyes should be polluted. Hurray for your children

“Muslim children who have good parents that teach them the right ISLAMIC values will thrive in almost any environment. ”
Thank you for someone finally speaking with some sense on this thread Saja. Good grief

this is my experience exactly.

I cannot believe some of the statements being made here.

Wow. I graduated from a public high school last year, and I’m currently in university to become an elementary school teacher. I am amazed at what’s being said about public schools, teachers, and other races.

If I had the opportunity to change my K-12 experience in the public school system, I wouldn’t. I was the only hijabi in high school, was in all those diversity and community service clubs, never partied, drank, went to a school dance/prom etc. and neither did any of my (nonmuslim and female) friends. I loved high school. Does that make me a bad person? It’s all about finding the right mix of participating in all the (right) activies, clubs, etc. and making all those memories without compromising yourself and beliefs. It was my opportunity to make an impression on 800 people who will probably never get to know a hijabi/Muslim, ask questions, etc.

In fact, I just talked to a friend of mine from hs who told me she won a prize at her uni’s Islamic Jeopardy because of our religious talks. Is she a dirty kaffira who I should have not associated with? She thought Muslims worshipped Buddha and all these crazy things before I met her….should I just have let her dwell in her ignorance?

Allahu ‘Alim. Maybe my school and experience was an exception.

I live minutes away from Dearborn, MI; a city with an enormous Muslim population, Islamic schools, and even public high schools with an overwhelming Muslim majority….but that doesn’t make it a good thing. In fact, when I asked my father why we never lived in Dearborn he replied that Muslims aren’t perfect people. They do “bad” things too, and if I went to a public school with a 93% Muslim population that also partied and drank, and were “undercovers,” he feared that I’d let that taint our perfect religion and think that it was okay because “Muslims do it too.” He prefered to give me a strong Muslim moral code in the home, teach me halal from haram, and allowed me to interact with all different kinds of people, because that’s life. I had the masjid and my “oustide of school” Muslim friends as a supplement. People may disagree with his decision, but I’d rather be a well-rounded Muslim in any environment than someone who isolates themselves from society (I’m not talking about all home schoolers…I know they’re normal kids too!)

Muslim children who have good parents that teach them the right ISLAMIC values will thrive in almost any environment.

I’m not saying everyone should send their kids to public schools (especially since they seem to be getting worse), because home schooling is a great option, but this over exaggerated view of products of public schools as horrible Muslims who give in to all this fitnaliciousness was enough for me (a long time lurker) to comment.

This comment is long enough, so I’ll stop here.