Old School

While we see some positive signs that are occurring among teens and young adults with regard to their relationship to God, I think that we have to be vigilant to be make sure that their lives are not adrift.  Much has been made, rightly so, about the mental health crisis facing our young people today.  And, we recognize that the Bible and the Church can provide solid answers - an anchor, if you will, in times of uncertainty and insecurity.  In Psalm 78 (ESV), we can find these words:
5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The publication, The Alabama Baptist, recently linked to an article at the Alabama Daily News website about a new law in effect in Alabama that is designed to highlight three simple principles.  The article opens up this way: "Alabama public school students will soon be taught that their best chance to avoid poverty is a three-pronged formula: Obtain, at a minimum, a high school diploma, find full-time employment and delay parenthood until marriage."  It's called the "success sequence," and the bill passed both chambers of the Alabama Legislature - unanimously!  

The article went on to say:

The Alabama State Board of Education is to develop standards and model curriculum to be adopted by local school systems. The curriculum will need to pull from a few research publications on the sequence, including “The Millennial Success Sequence” by Wendy Wang and Brad Wilcox.

Wang and Wilcox have said that the vast 96% of Black and 97% of Hispanic Millennials who followed this sequence are not poor in their mid-30s. That’s also the case for 94% of Millennials who grew up in lower-income families and 95% of those who grew up in non-intact families.

Alabama Daily News stated: "The new law requires that beginning in the 2026-27 school year, all students will receive instruction in the success sequence at least twice before they graduate from high school."

Brad Wilcox, of the Institute for Family Studies, is a well-known advocate of marriage and family.  He was featured recently in an article Glenn Stanton wrote for The Daily Citizen of Focus on the Family.    Stanton states:

Brad Wilcox, a chaired professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at University of Virginia writes in The Atlantic, saying that marriage “[shows] new signs of resilience.”

Professor Wilcox explains that “reports of marriage’s demise are exaggerated.” Other scholars have noted that it “is not naive optimism to believe that we are on the threshold of a marriage renaissance.”

Wilcox explains, “Rather quietly, the post-60s family revolution appears to have ended.” This is most notably indicated by twin facts. Divorce has been declining for some years, and this has been well-established. More recently, the share of children living with two married parents is up.

Wilcox is also quoted as saying: "Marriage’s comeback is good news for society: Children raised in two-parent homes are much more likely to graduate from college than those raised in other families, and less likely to be incarcerated. Kids who don’t live with both of their married parents are far more likely to be depressed than those raised in intact families."

The Success Sequence not only promotes marriage before children, in addition to staying in school and getting a diploma, as well as finding full-time employment, as a means to financial well-being, but has emotional results, as well. A piece at the Institute for Family Studies website includes this quote: "Alabama must educated the rising generation that they have agency when it comes to their economic, emotional, and family future by introducing the Success Sequence in school."

That article also notes:

Completing the three steps of the sequence leaves young people much less likely to experience high emotional distress (9% vs. 30%). Females are much more likely to experience this distress than males, regardless of the steps completed, but the gender gap is the largest for young people who have completed none of the steps (38% vs. 22%).

Furthermore, those who marry before having children are shown to have more stable families, which is linked to strong mental health. Among young people who follow the Success Sequence, an overwhelming “73% are in intact families (married and never divorced), compared with only 30% of those who had children before or outside of marriage.”

That is from research from Wendy Wang and Samuel Wilkinson.  The article says that Wang and Wilcox report that "A stunning 97% of young adults who follow the Success Sequence escape poverty by their late 20s and early 30s."

I contend that this Success Sequence, that has shown to be effective economically as well as emotionally, demonstrates the importance of some important Biblical principles.  I think what is notable is that is reinforces the concept of getting married before having children. Unfortunately, we see out-of-wedlock births being celebrated.  While it is true that ladies who become pregnant outside of a marital relationship choose life when they give birth to their children, it would certainly be better if moral conviction and personal responsibility had been exercised and sexual purity were practiced.  That's best for the child, as well as the parents. The principles remain true: God's way is best.

There's a whole lot of personal responsibility that we find in the Bible - and there is a simple economic principle: if you don't work, you don't eat.  So, making sure someone is employable, employed, and responsible enough to be involved in starting a family should be a top-level goal.

The Success Sequence is not a formula for building a large amount of wealth - and the Bible does have plenty to say about financial stewardship, but it is a template, that is consistent with Scripture that provides stability and security to further strong families in the future.