Youth and culture

Ever snagged a toothpicked morsel from one of those free taste-test tables at the grocery store? Now that's an instant-feedback survey. Let's say your kids could taste-test the church the same way-what face would they make? Well according to a Barna Research report, most teenagers have not only taste-tested the church, they've made it one of their favorite snacks.

Six out of 10 teenagers (62%) say they participated in church-related activities at least once a month before they turned 13 years old (56% said they participated twice a month), according to Barna researchers. That's puttin' on the feedbag, so to speak. So what's the verdict? Kids say they received...

* General information about God-26%

* Core religious beliefs from the Bible-17%

* Important lifestyle principles-15%

* Important relationship or relational skills-8%

* General ideas about the role of faith and church in everyday life-5%

An okay list, but no cause for celebratory back-slapping. Well, here's an ouch-a fifth of all teenagers (21%) say they got nothing of value from their church experience! On the other hand, those who were at least once-a-month church attenders reported these "outcomes":

* I was exposed to Bible stories-95%

* I learned about the lives of great people in the Bible-92%

* I had fun and positive experiences related to religion-89%

* I developed meaningful friendships at church-87%

* I discovered the traditions of my church-86%

* I developed a deeper relationship with Jesus-85%

* I had opportunities to serve needy people-85%

* I understood enough of the Bible so that every decision I make is based on biblical principles-53%

It's that last milquetoast outcome that has pollster George Barna roiling. "For most teenagers who have spent years attending church activities," he says, "their faith is not integrated into who they are and how they live. Most of the young people who claim they developed an understanding of the Bible that enables them to make decisions based on biblical principles show no evidence of using that understanding in relation to the core beliefs and lifestyle choices that we studied."

Translation: Churched kids know stuff, but don't act on it. Not a surprising insight, Barna notes, when compared to the "surprisingly few" adult Christians who have a "biblical worldview"-a faith that informs their everyday decisions and lifestyle choices.

Related News: Meanwhile, back at the Gallup Research farm, the granddaddy of all Christian pollsters has his own take on teenagers' church experience. According to the Gallup Tuesday Briefing (sign up for it at www.gallup.com):

* For the last 25 years, more teenagers (43%) have attended weekly religious services than adults (38%).

* Teenagers and older adults attend church far more often than 18- to 29-year-olds, suggesting a big drop-off among post-high-schoolers.

* Girls (46%) are more likely to be church attenders than boys (40%). (See the "Ask & Receive" section on page 13 for ideas on involving more boys in church activities.)

* Kids who do well in school and whose parents both attended college are more likely to show up at church than poor-performing students with poorly educated parents.

* Far more Republican sympathizers (57%) than kids with Democratic leanings (35%) or independents (37%) say they attended services in the last week.

A rundown of recent news on kids and sex:

* Three-quarters of sexually active teenagers engage in oral sex, but a fifth of them don't know they can get a sexually transmitted disease from it.

* According to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, teenage girls who date older boys are more likely to get sexually involved than girls who date guys their own age.

* The more "religious" a teenager, the more likely he or she will wait to engage in sexual activity.

* About eight out of 10 pregnant teenagers say their pregnancy was unintended, and the same percentage of pregnant 12- to 14-year-olds wish they had waited to have sex.

* One out of five teenagers 14 years and younger have had sex, and two-thirds of their parents had no idea their kids were sexually active. Michael Resnick, director of the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research Center at the University of Minnesota, says, "What is really clear from this report is that it's still the voices of parents and other adults that are stunningly absent in the lives of many of our kids."

* A Heritage Foundation report found that sexually active teenagers are much more likely to be depressed and attempt suicide.

* The percentage of adults who say out-of-wedlock sex is "morally okay" has skyrocketed since the '60s-in a May 2003 Gallup survey, 58% said there was nothing wrong with premarital sex.

'security mom' boots 'soccer mom'

For more than a decade, "soccer moms" drove the national political agenda and the economy. If you knew how to meet their needs and concerns, you likely got elected or rich or both.

But the soccer mom archetype has been forced into the back seat by something Time calls security mom. The turning point for this shift from a bus-driver sensibility to a kind of kick-butt mentality is easy to pinpoint-the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Republican pollster David Winston says, "What these women are looking for are solutions to make their families and children safer."