Elder John W. Taylor

There is a spirit working among the Saints to educate their own offspring. If our children will be all we will have for a foundation of glory in eternity, how needful that they be properly trained… There are wolves among us in sheep’s clothing ready to lead astray our little ones… Wolves do not devour old sheep when there are any young ones. I have herded sheep long enough to know that. Look after your children. (Collected Discourses, Vol. 2 p. 138.)

President John Taylor

Whatever you do, be careful in the selection of teachers. We don’t want infidels to mold the minds of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed upon us by the Lord, and we cannot be too careful in rearing and training them. I would rather have my child taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have them under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts. (The Gospel Kingdom, p. 273.)

President Brigham Young

I am opposed to free education as much as I am opposed to taking property from one man and giving it to another who knows not how to take care of it… I do not believe in allowing my charities to go through the hands of robbers who pocket nine-tenths themselves and give one tenth to the poor… Would I encourage free schools by taxation? No! (Journal of Discourses Vol. 18, p. 357)

We had to pay our own schoolteachers, raise our own bread and earn our own clothing, or go without; there was no other choice. We did it then, and we are able to do the same to-day. I want to enlist the sympathies of the ladies among the Latter-day Saints, to see what we can do for ourselves with regard to schooling our children. Do not say you cannot school them, for you can. There is not a family in this community but what we will take and school their children if they are not able to do it themselves; and we do not do it through begging in the East and telling what others have told there about this people, and about their own efforts to establish free schools here. I understand that the other night there was a school meeting in one of the wards of this city, and a part there–a poor miserable apostate–said, “We want a free school, and we want to have the name of establishing the first free school in Utah.” To call a person a poor miserable apostate may seem like a harsh word; but what shall we call a man who talks about free schools and who would have all the people taxed to support them, and yet would take his rifle and threaten to shoot the man who had the collection of the ordinary light taxes levied in this Territory–taxes which are lighter than any levied in any other portion of the country? We have no other schools but free schools here–our schools are all free. Our meetings are free, our teachings are free. We labor for ourselves and the kingdom of God. (Journal of Discourses, Vol.16, p.19 – p.20)

President Wilford Woodruff

We believe in celestial glory, and we believe in terrestrial and telestial glory, or in other words, we believe that there will be a separation finally of the good and the bad. Now, we are engaged in gathering together, or separating ourselves from the world and building our temples and administering in them for the living and the dead, and we spend millions of dollars in the accomplishment of this object, that we may become united and linked together by eternal covenants that shall exist in all time and throughout eternity. And then, when we have done all this, we go and deliberately turn our children over to whom? To men who do not believe in the gospel, to men according to your faith, are never going to the Celestial Kingdom of God. They will get as big a glory as they are prepared for, but they are not going there. And you will turn your children over to them. And you call yourselves Latter-day Saints, do you? I will suppose a case. You expect to be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God. Well, supposing your expectations are realized, which I sometimes doubt, and you look down, down somewhere in a terrestrial or telestial kingdom, as the case may be, and you see there your children, the offspring that God had given you to train up in his fear, to honor him and keep his commandments, and perceive that between you and them there is a great gulf, as represented by the Savior in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And supposing they could converse with you – which however they could not – but if such were the case, what would their feelings be toward you? It would be Father, Mother, you are to blame for this. I would have been with you if you had not tampered with the principles of life and salvation in permitting me to be decoyed away by false teachers who taught incorrect principles. And this is the result of it.” (Journal of Discourses 20:107.)

Neither you nor your parents can be too careful to see that your young and fruitful minds are fed and stored with good principles. You want to learn that which is true – when you learn anything about God, Jesus Christ, the angels, the Holy Ghost, the gospel, the way to be saved, your duty to your parents, brethren, sisters or to any of your fellow men, or any history, art or science, I say when you learn those things, you want to learn that which is true, so when you get those things riveted in your mind and planted in your heart, and you trust to it in future live and lean upon it for support, that it may not fail you like a broken reed. (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 266.)

President Joseph F. Smith

There are three dangers that threaten the church from within, and the authorities need to awaken to the fact that the people should be warned unceasingly against them. As I see them, they are flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity. (Gospel Doctrine p. 312-313.)

Elder J. Reuben Clark

I am willing that every man shall believe what he wishes, print what he wishes, and say what he wishes within his Constitutional rights, but I am not willing that he shall exploit all his idiosyncracies in teaching my flesh and blood while I pay the bill! I insist that he shall have all the personal freedom he can carry, but I am not willing to extend that full and complete freedom into a gross license and then pay him to abuse that license to distort and debase the minds and hearts and bodies of those who belong to me and are dearer to me than life itself. (Prophets, Principles and National Survival, p. 188.)

President Joseph Fielding Smith

Parents are commanded by revelation to teach their children these principles of the gospel… Then they go to school and find these glorious principles ridiculed and denied by the doctrines of men founded on foolish theories which deny that man is the offspring of God… These theories so dominate the secular education of our youth. They are constantly published in our newspapers, in magazines and other periodicals, and those who believe in God and his divine revelations frequently sit supinely by without raising a voice of protest. Under these conditions, is it any wonder the student is confused? He does not know whether to believe what his parents and the Church have taught him, or to believe what the teacher says and is written in the textbook. Naturally, students have confidence in their teachers and as confidence increases, there comes a lack of confidence in the doctrines of the Church and the parental instruction. (Man: His Origin and Destiny, p.2-3.)

There is no knowledge, no learning that can compensate the individual for the loss of his belief in heaven and in the saving principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. An education that leads a man from these central truths cannot compensate him for the great loss of spiritual things. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:321-322.)

President David O. McKay

Still fresh in our memory is the fact that a paranoiac, with a native ability to influence the masses, demonstrated through concentrated effort by specially trained instructors and leaders, how the minds of youth could be directed within 2 decades to accept even a perverted ideal. How near he came to the realization of his aim within a few short years is now a matter of history. If youth can be so influenced to degenerate to the jungle, it can also be trained by united purpose to ascend the path of spiritual attainment. (Gospel Ideals, p. 430.)

President Spencer W. Kimball

Oh, if our young people could learn this basic lesson to always keep good company; never to be found with those who tend to lower their standards! Let every youth select associates who will keep him on tiptoe, trying to reach the heights. Let him never choose associates who encourage him to relax in carelessness. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.262.)

Elder A. Theodore Tuttle

The things we have done in past years are not now sufficient to protect our children in these critical times. It has long been taught in this church that the day will come when no one will be able to stand without an individual testimony of the divinity of this work. That day is here… No longer can we expect the church to assume the major role in teaching our children -parents have this prime responsibility. (Ensign, May 1984 p. 23.)

President Harold B. Lee

One of the greatest threats to the work of the Lord today comes from false educational ideas. There is a growing tendency of teachers within and without the church to make academic interpretations of gospel teachings – to read, as a prophet leader has said, ‘by the lamp of their own conceit.’ Unfortunately, much in the sciences, the arts, politics and the entertainment field, as has been well said by an eminent scholar, ‘all dominated by this humanistic approach which ignores God and his word as revealed through the prophets.’ This kind of worldly system apparently hopes to draw men away from God by making man the ‘measure of all things’ as some worldly philosophers have said. (Conference Report 10/68 p. 59.)

Elder Boyd K Packer

In a review of what a student has gained at school, or in a class, he should give attention to things he may have lost. If he knew the value of some things he may have discarded, he would dig frantically through the wastebasket and trash can to rescue them before they are hauled away permanently. He came to school basically to learn an occupation, and likely he has. But as always, there was a price to pay, and occasionally students pay an exorbitant price… Did they come with patriotism and replace it with cynicism? Did they come free from any binding habits and now leave with an addiction? Did they arrive aspiring for marriage, a home, and a family and now have abandoned those aspirations? And critically important, did they come with virtue and moral purity and now must admit to themselves that while they were here they have lost it?” (Teach Ye Diligently p. 184-185, 1979.)

In many places it is literally not safe physically for youngsters to go to school. And in many schools – and it’s becoming almost generally true – it is spiritually unsafe to attend public schools. Look back over the history of education to the turn of the century and the beginning of the educational philosophies…which have led us now into a circumstance where our schools are producing the problems that we face. (BYU, October 9, 1996.)

The ultimate purpose of the adversary, who has “great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time,” is to disrupt, disturb, and destroy the home and the family. Like a ship without a rudder, without a compass, we drift from the family values which have anchored us in the past. Now we are caught in a current so strong that unless we correct our course, civilization as we know it will surely be wrecked to pieces. Moral values are being neglected and prayer expelled from public schools on the pretext that moral teaching belongs to religion. At the same time, atheism, the secular religion, is admitted to class, and our youngsters are proselyted to a conduct without morality. (Ensign, May 1994 P. 19)

Elder H. Verlan Andersen

Not only do the scriptures instruct us on when teaching is best done (see D&C 68:25–32; Deut. 8:5–9) but also on what should and should not be taught (see Moroni 7:14–19; 2 Nephi 9:28–29) and who should and should not do the teaching (see 2 Nephi 28:14, 31; Mosiah 23:14). The early teaching of children by parents offers the solution to many problems which otherwise would not afflict our lives. Is not this the ounce of prevention which will eliminate the need for many pounds of cure with respect to our youth? …The proper teaching of children is truly one of the most essential parts of God’s plan for our happiness.” (Ensign, 10/91 p. 81.)

Any system, therefore, which forcibly takes from the parents the power to control what their children are taught, and who teaches them, is contrary to the Lord’s plan. It deprives parents of their most sacred stewardship and takes the child away from those who are most deeply concerned with his welfare. No state employee whose purpose in teaching is to get gain can be expected to serve the interests of the child as well as the parents who render their service without compensation. More especially this is true when the teacher is prohibited by law from instilling faith in the child… Since state-financed education is one of the principle doctrines of communism, those who accept it have adopted much of the socialist program… It is a widely recognized fact that public schools and universities are the foremost advocates of socialism because they teach it both in theory and in practice. (The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, p. 135-136.)

Elder Ezra Taft Benson

I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions. There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes where institutes of religion are available. It gives the parents the opportunity to stay close to their children, and if they become alerted and informed, these parents can help expose the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, John Keynes and others. There are much worse things today that can happen to a child than not getting a full education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attending colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amorality. Said Karl G. Maeser, “I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera or other malignant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 307.)

There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution which authorizes the federal government to enter into the field of education. Furthermore, the Tenth Amendment says: “The powers not delegated to the United States Government are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Nothing could be more clear. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to exercise any powers over education. (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 298.)

From the 5th grade through the 4th year of college, our young people are being indoctrinated with a Marxist philosophy and I am fearful of the harvest. The younger generation is further to the left than most adults realize. The old concepts of our Founding Fathers are scoffed and jeered at by young moderns whose goals appear to be the destruction of integrity and virtue, and the glorification of pleasure, thrills, and self-indulgence. (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p 321)

[We should] reassert the primary right and responsibility of parents forthe total education of their children, including social values, religious convictions, and political concepts… Parents should stand firm on this and not be intimidated by professional educators. After all, it’s their children and their money. (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 231)

Elder Horacio A. Tenorio

Parents have the responsibility to educate their children. No inappropriate outsider should be allowed to dictate our family’s values nor what our children are being taught… In medieval times, great fortresses were built around castles or cities to protect them from enemy attacks. In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites built fortresses to defend their families against the enemies. We must make of our homes fortresses to protect our families against the constant attacks of the adversary. (Ensign, Nov. 1994 p. 23.)

Thomas Jefferson’s words ring true:

We are now trusting to those who are against us in position and principle, to fashion to their own form the minds and affections of our youth … This canker is eating on the vitals of our existence, and if not arrested at once, will be beyond remedy (Thomas Jefferson to James Breckinridge,hj 1821. ME 15:315).