Smith, C., & Denton, M. (2005). Soul searching: The religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
It is becoming apparent that our students, even in a Christian school, often struggle with what we as parents and educators believe is important for the Christian lifestyle. They often seem to miss the easy stuff, and it is really not surprising considering the messages that we hear from culture. Soul Searching is a book that seems to have nailed down the importance for parents (I am included) to get the message right that we are attempting to deliver to our children.
When listening to religious pundits and even scholars in our own Southern Baptist tradition, our American youth are on the precipice that seemingly is leading to a tumultuous fall into heartache and pain. Is this view warranted? Have our youth fallen into a miry trap that has a future of gloom promised? Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton delve into a comprehensive, sociological study of youth and their views on religion and how it might relate to future outcomes in their book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Smith and Denton attempt to answer questions about American youth in regards to their character, the extent of their spiritual seeking, and more specifically how religion affects adolescent moral reasoning and risk behaviors for the future. I suggest this book to you as we continue to try and raise decidely Christian youth who are able to engage with culture in a positive way.
Christian Smith is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, and the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame. Co-author Melinda Lundquist Denton researches the intersection of religion and family life in the United States, with a current focus on the religious lives of adolescents. Dr. Denton’s primary work is with the National Study of Youth and Religion, a longitudinal mixed-method study of youth and young adults in the United States based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Notre Dame University.
Smith develops a unique and engaging blend of technical analysis of data with personal anecdotal support for clear imagery of American youth. This study included a national representative sample including teens from 45 states. The research for this book came out of the National Study of Youth and Religion from July 2002 to March 2003. focusing on teenagers, age 13-17. In addition, a parent in each household was interviewed. In the spring and summer of 2003, 267 in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted. The authors believe that this is the “largest, most comprehensive and detailed study of American teenage religion and spirituality conducted to date.” By the author’s own admissions, the findings in the survey provided important and fairly comprehensive starting point for deeper analysis.
Data included surveying individuals in the immediate context to determine their viewpoint and posed similar questions posed to parents. In other words, parents and adults in congregations were surveyed on the same items to determine if there is a correlation in their perception of the same items. The goal of the study was to catch the big picture of the religious beliefs of teens at the national level. Most importantly, the generalizations from the data seemed to point out that there is a significant correlation between those that had a serious faith and better outcomes in life and to discover and theorize why this is so. There were many not so surprising findings in the study which included the following:
- Most teens could not articulate their own belief.
- Most teens had not had a serious adult who was interested in their beliefs.
- Most teens are moralistic therapeutic deist (this is a belief that God does exist but He only wants them to be happy and satisfied in life).
- Most teens held a belief that was pluralistic (that a variety of religious views are acceptable).
- A minority of teens have a real faith that includes a good understanding of their belief.
- The one factor that seemed to glaringly rise up in their data was that the parents’ faith was the most significant factor in the faith of the teens and in later outcomes in life.
The authors were able to successfully tease out the value of the role for parents in the religious lives of teens. In most media outlets, the anecdotal evidence seems to portray teens as a lost individualized generation seemingly at odds with parents. Generally, positive relationships (particularly with parents) leads to a positive understanding of religious practices and better outcomes in life. The outcomes included grades, addictions, and future family structures. This study is a warning shot across the bow for churches, schools, and youth leaders today. The authors dug deeper into the evidence suggesting that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes and seek to reflect theoretically why and how this is so.
The authors generalized that if there is indeed a significant number of American teens who are serious about their faith, there is also a much larger number who are unable to articulate their beliefs on religion and their faith. The authors believe that this faith could be characterized as bland or a mush faith. Although faith may be a language that they speak, it is a second language at best. They are simply not practicing their faith and unable to speak about it well.
As the head of a Christian school, any study that seeks to analyze how successful we are as a school at fulfilling our vision is useful. Christian schools often seek to help students develop their faith by helping them to know Christ and then to make Him known to the world. Although, there are a number of groups surveyed in the group that are not relevant to our context, there are several groups that seem to fit our school makeup. Many of the teens in this book have a similar faith disposition and the information that they share is insightful and potentially helpful in analyzing our own educational situation.
As a school, we must stress the importance to you, our parents of the need for their involvement in the lives of their children. As a church, the study pointed out that religious traditions are being corroded from the inside of the church and not outside the church as it is the church that waters down its own beliefs. As a church, we seek to not be that church. The results of this book seem to point a hopeful picture for those parents that are actively engaged in their lives but conversely paints a bleak picture for those parents that are not unable to articulate their own faith as a model for their children. I ask that you consider picking up this book this summer to help us all in the educational process of our children.
