Diese Herleitung ist vielleicht deshalb so schwierig nachvollziehbar, weil man heute davon ausgeht, dass die Kinder dem Staat bzw. der Gesellschaft gehören.
The children are born of the parents and therefore belong to them first of all. The parents have them under their care until they set out on their own, and the parents are prompted by their parental love to provide for their children’s physical, mental, moral, and spiritual needs. They guide them, protect them, and promote their best interests. There is no one interested in their welfare as much as their parents are. Hence it is but natural that the parents should be the responsible educators, and that, if the parents should feeld constrained to call in the help of others, these others should feel that they stand in loco parentis (in the place of the parents).
Louis Berkhof. Our Attitude Toward the Christian School. In: Louis Berkhof. Cornelius van Til. Foundations of Christian Education. P & R: Phillipsburg 1990 (reprinted). (29)