Blog
Distinctively CHA
Welcome Home
November 04, 2024
Since 1972, CHA has pursued its mission of producing “true Christian scholars who will be used by God to propagate the Gospel throughout the whole world and to restore our American Christian Republic to its historic, Biblical foundation.” The school has over 1000 graduates who are leaders in every sphere of society, fulfilling America’s gospel purpose.
Recently, CHA hosted two alumni events. At the volleyball alumni evening, we had more than seventy alumni and their parents. Last Friday night, the football alumni event welcomed home alumni from the first student body in 1972 to our most recent graduates of 2024. We had alumni come out of state to attend the game, driving over six hours.
What a blessing it is to have a rich heritage of our CHA family. Thank you, alumni, for pursuing the Lord in your sphere of influence. We hope to see you at the basketball alumni game on December 16, 2024, and the Heritage Gala on April 8, 2025. Our guest speaker at the 2025 Heritage Celebration will be Dr. Paul Jehle from Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Next-door Neighbors
September 30, 2024
CHA is fortunate to be in close proximity to the Del City Fire and Police Departments. Under the leadership of Mr. J. Bullard, we have actively fostered a trusted relationship with these agencies. Our gym is often used by the fire department for basketball games, and the police department makes regular visits to our campus to ensure safety and provide a reassuring presence.
Last week, our pre-kindergartners took a field trip to the fire station to learn more about fire safety. From learning about hoses and trucks to the role of a firefighter, our young Crusaders were taught the importance of this role in our city.
I am so thankful to our elementary teachers, who work diligently to plan engaging field trips for our students. Each grade has time-honored trips that allow our students to learn about our community and world and look forward to the next grade’s excursions with anticipation.
Challenges in the Task of Training Children — Part 6
September 13, 2024
Young people and their parents are stuck in one or more of four collective-action traps. Each is a challenge to escape, but escape would be made much easier if families in a school worked together. If the following four actions could become community norms at CHA, I believe we would see significant benefits for students in a very short period of time.
Norm #1: No smartphones before high school
The trap here is that each child thinks they need a smartphone because “everyone else” has one, and many parents give in because they don’t want their child to feel excluded. But if no one else had a smartphone, or even if only half of a class had a smartphone, then parents would feel more comfortable providing a “dumb” phone (more on “dumb phone” options in future blogs) or no phone at all. If delaying round-the-clock internet access until ninth grade became a school norm, then students would be more protected during the very vulnerable first few years of puberty.
Norm #2: No social media before 16
The trap here is that each adolescent feels a strong need to open accounts on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms primarily because that is where many of their peers are posting and gossiping. If the majority of students were not on these accounts until they were 16, families and students could more easily resist the pressure to sign up. This is not to say that students could never watch YouTube videos or make a social media post —only that they could not open accounts, give away their data, post their own content, and let algorithms get to know them and their preferences (which can be damaging or, even, dangerous).
Norm #3: Phone‐free schools
We are already making strides in this pursuit at CHA. Comments from the article: “The only way to get students’ minds off their phones during the school day is to require all students to put their phones (and other devices that can send or receive texts) into a phone locker at the start of the day. Schools that have gone phone-free always seem to report that it has improved the culture, making students more attentive in class and more interactive with one another. Published studies back them up.” Our experience at CHA in 2023-24 concurs with these findings.
Norm #4: More independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world
Many parents are afraid to give their children the level of independence and responsibility they themselves enjoyed when they were young, even though rates of homicide, drunk driving, and other physical threats to children are way down in recent decades. (More on this in a future blog.)
“It would be a mistake to overlook this fourth norm. If parents don’t replace screen time with real-world experiences involving friends and independent activity, then banning devices will feel like deprivation, not the opening up of a world of opportunities.”
A “phone-based childhood” greatly reduces the amount of real-life experiences that a child can have. Put succinctly, “smartphones are experience blockers.” We should strive to give our children a childhood and adolescence that God designed them to have, to experience His creation and to develop relationships so that they can be anchored in the real world while flourishing in the digital age.