Posted on July 18, 2005

Children and Youth

Over a four-year period, researchers questioned 3,370 Protestant teenagers between the ages 13 and 17 about their religious beliefs. Their findings, compiled in Portraits of Protestant Teens: a Report on Teenagers in Major U.S. Demoninations, (73 pages, PDF), reveal that about half of all Protestant teens attend church weekly, and that the majority say they believe in God, the afterlife, angels, demons, miracles, and Judgment Day. At the same time, more than half said they did not feel close to God, while 41 percent said they believe morals are relative. And while conservative teens seem to have the clearest moral vision, they are no less likely than their peers to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, use marijuana, cheat in school, and lie to their parents. The report was published by the National Study of Youth and Religion, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment.