Millennials and Faith

Focus on the Family recently conducted a research study of young adults and their commitment to faith and religion. In their study, Millennial Faith and Retention, they found that only 18% of young adults raised in homes with any measure of religious influence are now unaffiliated with a specific faith.  It also found that 60% of millennials describe themselves as "keeping faith."  Of those young adults who call themselves as not religious, only 11% had a strong faith as a child and lived in a home where a vibrant faith was practiced and taught by their parents.  To put this study in the context of the Christian faith, it means that the vast majority of young adults leaving Christianity never had a strong faith to begin with. To quote the researchers, "This is not a crisis of faith, per se, but of parenting.  Parents who provide a home where faith is vibrantly practiced are remarkably likely to create young adults who remain serious Christians."

Looks like this study has an important message for parents who think it is ok to drop your kids off at church or youth group but don't attend yourself, STOP KIDDING YOURSELF!  If faith isn't important to you, it won't be important to your kids.  This is especially true when your kids become teenagers and they move into that phase of life where they put together their world view.  They walk through the supermarket of ideas and decide which ones to leave on the shelf and which ones to put into their shopping cart. Did you ever wonder why your teens are so sensitive to hypocrisy?  Its because they are trying to figure out which values matter and which ones don't.  And guess who has the biggest influence on them?  Mom and Dad.  In my opinion, the most important goal for parenting teenagers is to help them make the transition from following Christ because my parents do, to following Christ because I want to.  Once that it is established, many other things eventually fall into place.

The bottom line is this, if you want your kids to be men and women of faith, you need to live out your faith in a meaningful way.

Blessings,
Dr. Paul

Media Use by Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently established some positions regarding children and the use of media.  In one finding they confirm what we parents have known for years.  They found that positive entertainment is healthier for children. It is advising the 60,000 member pediatricians to "challenge the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and teens and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to children.  In a second, related finding, the AAP spoke to the serious risks involved with unrestricted use of media.  They concluded that "the evidence is now clear that media outlets can and do contribute substantially to many different risks and health problems and that children and teenagers learn from, and may be negatively influenced by the media. Risks and problems linked with excessive media use by children and teens are linked to violence, sex, drug use, and obesity.
It is interesting to me that there is no age where excess media use did not create a problem.  This includes plopping your pre-schoolers in front of the TV as a baby sitter, to teens and their use of media. One area that is creating big problems is giving children smart phones.  In my opinion, no child under the age of 16 should be given one as these phones are really portable computers that provide unfiltered access to everything on the internet.  It is long overdue for responsible parents to enact reasonable limits on how much and what media we allow our kids to utilize.  How much is your child's well being worth to you?
Blessings,
Dr. Paul