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AT-RISK CHILDREN SOCIAL STATMENTS - PRESBYTERIAN
Children
http://www.brethren.org/ac/ac_statements/99Children&Violence.htm
The Church of the Brethren is deeply concerned by the increased frequency and severity of school-related violence due to a lethal mix of factors, including:
- the pervasiveness of violence and violent images in our culture;
- our own passive acceptance of this culture of violence
- the ease with which young people can acquire firearms;
- and our nation's readiness to resort to violence in the foreign and domestic arenas.
We call on congregations to teach peace and pursue it within their fellowship, and to take the lead in advocating for peace within their communities, nation and world.
We call our members, especially the youth of the church, to turn away from the culture of violence in its many manifestations in our society and to live as people of peace.
Throughout the Bible, children are seen as a blessing and a sign of God's favor, and are often bearers of God's promise for the future. The scriptures call us to care for and defend the children, as they are the most vulnerable members of God's family.
Early in the Old Testament, we hear of the significance of a child as a bearer of God's promise and sign of God's faithfulness. We also learn that children at risk can be recipients of God's special concern. Later in the Old Testament, prophetic voices judged entire nations by their treatment of widows and orphans.1
In the New Testament, Jesus accords children a kind of respect and attention nearly always reserved for adults. In seeking out children and in naming them as role models for his disciples, Jesus revolutionized attitudes toward the place of the child in the human community.
Paul likewise calls on adults to treat children with respect and care. He admonishes parents not to provoke their children to anger, and calls for the provision of a stable home in which the child might grow.
Jesus had an understanding of the character of children and the importance of the development of a child. He saw in children qualities of dependence, trust, an inclusive love that does not distinguish between rank or race, an expectation of great things, an instinct for faith, and a refreshing innocence. It was these qualities he doubtless had in mind when he instructed his followers to become as children. Child exploitation takes away all these characteristics, except for dependency; but even this becomes a negative quality, as the child becomes dependent on a demanding master.
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