A new study is revealing that a majority of Christian parents do not feel prepared to speak to their teenagers about tough topics concerning Christianity, God or the Bible.
The Barna Group and Impact 360 Institute came together to conduct a study of Generation Z which includes people born between 1999 and 2015. In the research provided by the evangelical Christian polling firm known as The Barna Group, findings revealed that one in seven parents do not feel equipped to discuss tough Christian topics with their children.
While the research reveals that the majority of parents polled have discussed Christian perspectives on current events along with Biblical perspectives on sexuality and marriage, they feel less equipped to respond to topics that involve protecting their teens from harmful influences, navigating social media or technology use.
Youth pastors who were polled in the study believe that parents who engage with their children concerning faith matters have a significant impact on how those teens experience the youth groups that they are involved in. Parents are not prioritizing their teens’ spiritual growth which leads to ministry struggles, says 68 percent of the youth pastors polled in the study.
The Barna Group concluded their study by suggesting that youth pastors and parents both have work to do when it comes to engaging with teenagers about their faith.
“Considering the climate in which Gen Z is coming of age, all youth pastors and Christian parents need to prepare for robust conversations on these and other topics relating to biblical worldview,” the Barna Group website suggests. “Teens may not be entirely at ease talking about these subjects, but that doesn’t make them any less urgent.”
Research for the studies were conducted using two online consumer panels. One of those panels was conducted in 2016 when 1,490 U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 18 were polled.
The other involved 507 U.S. teenagers who were questioned in 2017.
For more information about this study, please click here.