Angie and I went to private academies as elementary / middle / high school students here in both the Jackson and Hattiesburg Metro, but our three girls do not. Now, keep in mind that we did homeschool for kindergarten and 4th grade only (our oldest two daughters).
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Mississippi is brimming with sexual sinners. For all the potheads in California, we have the sex addicts / "lovemongers" here in Mississippi. Mostly, this illicit behavior is fornication amongst the black population, but within the rural areas of our state, it's just as prevalent amongst whites. Sex is the language of love, so to speak, in Mississippi. Our motto here is, if you happen to be bored, go find someone to fuck. And what fuels this is the vacuum of honest, thorough sexual education - across the board (from parents - emotional point of view, teachers - pragmatic point of view, church leaders - spiritual / Biblical point of view) - available to children / young adults here in the Magnolia state.
Fornication fosters pregnancy but especially amongst young adults due to how risk averse they are. Pregnancy, amongst whites, fosters marriage (which are usually short lived). And from there, the offspring are thrown into the emotional gutter as they watch their families - completely out of their control - fall apart due to divorce. Children having to cope with not only the stressors of childhood but also the trauma of the emotional gutter many times end up with tremendous scars. Those children, if they stay here in Mississippi, will eventually as adults, (thankfully) find themselves in an environment that's much easier than most (economically) to sustain oneself within. But unfortunately, adults who were reared as children within broken homes are at a higher risk of also ending up introducing their children to the same toxicity. Therefore, many times, it creates a viscous cycle of emotional gutter living - for Mississippians.
And just a quick side note here. If you're dumb enough to not recognize that being reared within a broken home isn't equal to being thrown into an emotional gutter, just ask the children to honestly tell you of their experience and how they've had to cope in order to survive it.
Finally, Mississippi is the cheapest place to live within the US. Everything here (relatively speaking) is cheap. Therefore, it takes very little money to survive. Plus, there are so many impoverished Mississippians (most of which are collecting Social Security Disability) that if you have a decent amount of intelligence as well as a GED, you can actually be (with some providential assistance) quite successful (again, relatively speaking).
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Angie and I have three daughters, all from our sole 23 years of marriage (by God's grace). Our oldest is a junior, middle a freshman, and youngest, a 4th grader. All of these attend public schools, as I said earlier on.
Our daughters dialogue much about their relational travails with their Mississippi classmates at their respective schools. Just this past week, our freshman relayed an interesting tale of how some of her missing clothes (out of her backpack during PE class) waltzed into school a few weeks later. She was aghast to see one of her favorite T-shirts on a fellow 9th grader, and similarly, her gym shorts being modeled by another freshman.
The 4th grader too has tales to share. Kids who bully by calling names or using profanity.
And too, there's the drug use, or at least what many of their fellow students objectify as such relative to their chosen identity within that regard. Is it legit? Who knows. Acknowledging the fact that (most) teenagers do love to run their mouths.
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One evening this past week, having tallied up most of these tales over the past 30 days, I sat the Turner girls down and explained the realities they're being asked to face by being students amongst all the other Mississippi students within Mississippi public schools.
Thankfully, they took both my commentary in stride as well as (once again), their situation(s). In fact, they wouldn't have it any other way (as if they knew otherwise).
Now, how does this relate to Samson Society?
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The biggest deterrent to buying into a Samson Society community is stigma, and in many ways, it's an adult version of the exact same stigma that motivates many a Mississippi parent to eschew public schooling (in Mississippi) for their children.
Often men walk into a meeting, and they adorn their haughty eyes. Eyes of criticality. Pride. Arrogance. And, it's all downhill from there.
Satan's greatest victory is deceiving a newbie into believing that Samson Society MUST BE ADJUDICATED AS A PLACE WHERE HE HIMSELF CAN BENEFIT EXCLUSIVELY.
And when said newbie determines / decides otherwise, he's out of there. And this is because he's deceived into believing that it's all about his needs / his healing being met. Exclusively.
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Why do we send our children to public school?
For a number of reasons, one of which is to have them positively influence our beloved Mississippi - for the better. And no, the Turner girls aren't perfect, but they are fully engaged yet reticent enough to endure whilst giving back / loving well - both their public school teachers and fellow students.
Do our three daughters come from picture perfect homes? Of course not. In order to prove that, simply read about their father (me), the author of this SS blog. Though Angie and I have longevity on our side relative to our marriage, it's no less fragile / vulnerable to our propensity towards sin of every kind.
Public school is hard. Samson Society is hard. But both should be because real life is hard - particularly when we're faced with other Mississippian's shit head on. But, that's okay. God can and does work in and through those difficulties.
In closing, one sizable differentiator between participating within the Metro Jackson Samson Society and being a Mississippi public school student is there's no parental influence in the background to encourage / motivate you to stay committed. Therefore, you must rely on God instead, remembering all the while that it's not just about you and where you happen to be at for such a time as this.
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