Nearly two-thirds of teenagers don’t believe in God and think that reality television is far more important than religion, new research has revealed. The survey showed that 66 per cent of teens do not believe a deity exists while 50 per cent have never prayed and 16 per cent have never been to church. Teenagers rated family, friends, money, music and even reality TV shows above faith.
- 59 per cent of children believed religion has had a negative influence on the world
- 60 per cent only go to church for a wedding or christening
- Only 30 per cent of teenagers think there is an afterlife…
- … while 10 per cent believe in reincarnation
- 47 per cent said organised religion had no place in the world
- 60 per cent don’t believe Religious Studies should be compulsory in schools
- However, 91 per cent agreed they should treat others the way they wished to be treated themselves
The study of 1,000 teenagers aged 13 to 18 was carried out by Penguin books. It also revealed the south-east was the region with the least faith as only 28 per cent of those surveyed believed in God. A Church of England spokesman said: ‘Many teenagers aren’t sure what they believe at that stage of their lives, as is clear from the number who said they don’t know whether they believe in God.
Mail (Thanks Liz)
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You read a study like this, and you think teenagers are wisening up — but then you read the bit about reality TV. I don’t know what to say about this. I guess culture has just completely degenerated.
Well its about time someone asked teenagers about our opinions for once instead of instantly dismissing us because we’re all evil and attack old people.
well i’m 19 until july and i’ve been atheist since i was 9! Mum over dosed me on church and completely turned me to detesting the religion.
I don’t think its childish naivety to suggest reality tv has done more to open peoples minds to those of other cultures than religion has in recent years. Look at Big Brother contestants, they may be dipshits but mixing people of different backgrounds the way they do on that show is spreading a sense of acceptance and broadening horizons among the youth who consume it.
If this research really is accurately representitive of teenagers, I’m quite proud to be part of a generation that simply doesn’t give religion the time of day. Is reality tv important? Absolutely not, but I think I’d be happier living in a world where people may soon pay more attention to that than religion.
I aggree with Sarah. We teenagers get such a bad press.
I also think it’s sad that so many teenagers can say that religious studies shouldn’t be compulsery in schools. Do they realise the social impact religion has? How could a generation be let out into the world without the basic understanding of other religions and cultures? It’s not like R.S is trying to convert anyone. In the same way that Geography isn’t trying to make people move to another country . No-one seems to care about Geography being compulsary.
In response to James’s comment I would rather people rank reality TV shows, something that ultimately does no harm to anyone higher than something such as religion which has caused hatred and wars between people for hundreds of years.
If the conflict between Israel and Palestine was simply due to Big Brother I’m sure the problem would have been resolved a long time ago and so many people would not have been killed.
Atheism = beach beer bongs?
I like it
But what do they believe in then? What is their vision on life, how do they feel, goals, humanity etc.. And also, some will not believe in their younger years but later on.
Reality is not so nice quite often .. I wonder what they hope for in life.
I also agree with Sarah.
Every teenager is entirely different- just because some teens said that doesn’t mean all teenagers are the same. Can’t exactly say ‘two thirds’ when they only asked 1,000 teenagers in one area.
^But it’s comforting to know that a good number of them are able to think beyond what they were indoctrinated to think.
I hope this study will be pursued further. It would be interesting to see how the results would change (for the better or for the worse) with a larger sample population.
I’m 18 and I don’t believe in god. It was very much forced onto us at school. Up until the age of 12 we had to pray and sing to god every day in assembly (not at a C of E school neither) and in a way I think that made me want to take a step back and look at the whole thing and evaluate the religious situation for myself and it was at that point aged about 9 or 10 i decided i didn’t believe in god and I havn’t since.
If done correctly, Religious Education should still be taught I think and although I didn’t used to pay a great deal of attention in it, I thought seeing how other people praise their gods and what they believe in was interesting.
Last thing, I do think it has a negative impact upon the world. It reminds me of a campaign I seen a few years ago which featured this image:
http://tinyurl.com/bq3cdy
Unfortunately I’m a long way past being a teenager nowadays, but this survey is incredibly heartening, and gives me a lot of hope for the future. The concentration on the reality TV answer is just spin put on it by the pro-religion press. The main thing to take away from this survey is that each generation continues to be less religious than the last, and that can only be a good thing.
I am 18 myself, and can report similar experiences to Andrew. I went to Sunday School till I was around 5, went to a C of E junior school and it was then that I became fully indifferent to religion, even with the hymns and prayers (to be fair, the headmaster did say that if you didn’t believe, you could just sit quietly without taking part – the higher years always had more students doing just that than lower years). From childhood I wasn’t taken by religion, which developed into Atheism in high school, even if I wasn’t aware of what Atheism was at the time.
The study sounds about right from my own experiences, though I’m not certain about reality television being more important than religion (I can’t stand reality TV though). It’d be interesting to see the results of a large-scale version of this study, especially regarding the difference in response between regions. I’m curious to see whether regions considered largely religious have produced teenagers similarly entrenched in their beliefs, or whether the trend of disbelief continues regardless of area.
Yet another thing we’ve done wrong – and is it just me, or are they just looking for any excuse to remind us that we’re the scum of the earth?
Can’t help thinking they should ask more than 1,000 people before they decide we all think reality TV is more important than religion and that RE lessons should be scrapped. (Although, if they want to carry on with RE lessons, can I suggest that it’s actually about ReligionS, not just Christianity and Islam – if they’re going to do one or two, they should do the whole lot.)
I honestly can’t see that by not believing in a God or buying into a religion we all piss about like the twats in their pretty picture. Equally just by believing in a God or religion, that doesn’t make them good people.
I’m all for the binge drinking, shop lifting, granny muggers (Who also set fire to cats, don’t forget that one) to get a bad press and face the consequences, but why do the rest of us have to be tarred with the same brush?
Big brother is bollox as is religion. Each to their own but with science proving so much these days, I do wonder what it is religious people have to hold onto…. or do they just make the science fit their views?
Well, maybe there is hope for the next generation yet. Keep it up kids, you’re the future.
Believe in God is very important and reading bible is important. Unfortunately, people taught by forced not by will. If people can see research what are the benefits of following Jesus, people will follow themselves. I know it sounds strange.
It is strange reality that kids don’t believe in god because their parents never believed and never educated children. Even 40% kids prefer TV over their dad so i am not surprised with the statistics of children’s no faith in god.
But sooner and later they will realize that we need to keep moral values right to grow and flourish. Bible is the only standard to know that not own standard…..
I am not religious fanatic but what i said all proven by research.
Thanks
Nathanael
This should end well
The Bible actually propecizes that there will be a major falling away from the faith before the return of the Lord Jesus. This has accelerated in the last 30 years. I worked in TV for years. It is called TV programming for a reason. Your mind is being “programmed” by the “man glorifying” content being spewed daily to unsuspecting viewers. The Evolution theory is a man-made religion. It takes more faith to believe in evolution (that everything was made from nothing) that an all powerful, loving God made everything. I mean did “nothing” make your breakfast this morning!
The Lord’s second coming will come upon most of the world as a thief in the night. Very few believers will remain at the end. With the arrival of 3D TVs people will only become more entrenched in “fleshly lusts”…..