Reading, writing and arithmetic are no longer the only lessons children are getting at school.

Across the country, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are being used to teach children how to understand themselves, manage their emotions, build relationships and make decisions. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), 83 percent of school principals reported using an SEL curriculum during the 2023-2024 school year alone.

At first glance, much of it sounds harmless. What Christian parent would object to teaching children self-control, kindness or how to get along with others?

But the curriculum begs a deeper look.

SEL can reach far beyond simply teaching children to behave themselves.

CASEL describes SEL curriculum as helping children develop “healthy identities,” manage their emotions and pursue both personal and “collective” goals.

Some programs even bring Eastern mindfulness practices directly into the classroom.

MindUP, for example, describes its program as combining neuroscience, “mindful awareness,” positive psychology, and SEL. Another program, Inner Explorer, provides daily mindfulness exercises for students. The organization says it is being used in more than 120 school districts.

While learning self-control is certainly a good thing, there is a tremendous difference between teaching children right behavior according to God's Word and teaching them to “look within themselves” for the answers to their deepest problems.

Simultaneous to the SEL push, some Christian public school teachers are learning what happens when they disagree with the worldview they’re supposed to teach.

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, California teachers and other certificated employees serving grades 7 through 12 are now required to complete five years of annual LGBTQ cultural competency training.

The state's program is called PRISM—Providing Relevant, Inclusive Support that Matters for LGBTQ+ Students.

The training instructs teachers to affirm a student's chosen gender identity and use the student's preferred name and pronouns. But PRISM goes beyond providing this information. Teachers are required to take quizzes based on the courses—and they have to select the approved answers before proceeding.

Christian teachers have rightly objected that completing the quizzes require them to give answers that contradict their belief that God created mankind male and female.

One California math teacher took a stand.

Kristen had taught in California's Arcadia Unified School District for 18 years when she was assigned PRISM training.

“I automatically just got sick to my stomach,” she later recalled.

She had hoped the training would simply provide information. Instead, she encountered material that required her to affirm ideas contrary to her Christian faith.

Kristen and another teacher asked for religious accommodation. Their initial request was denied. She was even told that she had to complete the training and pass the test or risk being transferred and losing her job.

Then came the district’s problem-solving suggestion. Officials suggested that someone else could click through the test answers for her.

She wouldn't do it. Her reply? “I'm not a liar.”

Kristen prayed and was eventually connected with attorney Dean Broyles, president of the National Center for Law and Policy. With legal help, Kristen and her colleague received a five-year exemption from the training. To date, Broyles’ organization has helped around 100 teachers seek accommodation this year alone.

His message to Christian teachers is straightforward: Don't bow.

“We're really in a Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego moment,” he said, “and we need all believers to take a stand and not bend their knee.”

Children are being bombarded with messages about who they are and where they should turn for answers.

SEL programs tell them to look inward. Gender programs tell them they can find an identity contrary to the sex God gave them. But the Bible gives children very different answers and we need to make sure our children are taught the right way to think.

One easy way to keep biblical truth in front of your children is to give them Chick tract packs and comic books of their own. Encourage them to read them—and then share the tracts with their friends.

While the world is working hard to teach the next generation what to believe, let's make sure our children are equipped with God's truth and are ready to pass it on.