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February 25, 2010

How does faith influence our children?

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, there were 173,402,000 self-identified Christians in 2008. That was 76 percent of the adult population. Other religions made up 3.9 percent of the adult population, and those not associated with a religion made up the remaining 20.1 percent of the adult population. Still further, the Pew Research Center reports that in Oklahoma – which is part of the region known as the “Bible Belt” — 80 percent of its population is Christian, 6 percent other religions, and 12 percent unaffiliated. Duncan, Oklahoma, is fairly consistent with the rest of the state, with 85 percent of its population identified as Christian, and 15 percent other religions. What these numbers indicate is that most families in our community have some belief in, contact with, or identification with some form of religion.

The importance of faith to the development of our children has been and will probably continue to be debated throughout time. Yet, the statistics would suggest that a majority of the parents in our community feel that faith is important, regardless of the actual beliefs. According to the Dec. 11 edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies, spirituality in one’s life adds meaning and value (personal aspects), and gives one a sense of stability and belonging (communal aspects). Research shows that when children feel that their lives have meaning and value, and develop deep, quality relationships, they are happier. On the other hand, the actual religious practices of attending church, praying and meditating; seemed to have little effect on children’s happiness.

Of course, there are other predictors of happiness, such as a person’s temperament, but faith was the important aspect. That aside, the relationship between spirituality and happiness remained strong. This is important information for parents. Perhaps the exhibition of characteristics learned through faith practices adds to this sense of happiness. For example, teaching a child about kindness towards others, or about altruism and volunteering, adds to this sense of happiness.

John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist, thinks religion can be good for kids because religious networks provide social support to parents, which can improve their parenting skills. Also, values and norms upheld in religious congregations tend to be self-sacrificing and pro-family. These are important to re-enforcing the behaviors that parents try to teach at home. Finally, religious organizations validate the worthiness and importance of parenting, which gets the attention of the children. This seems to provide more of a boost to family life, whereas secular organizations are unable to elicit the same results.

I am not suggesting that the children growing up in families that do not practice a faith, will not be as well-developed as those that do. After all, good parenting is the overall key in early childhood development. And, there are still mysteries about what sets faith-based organizations apart from secular ones, but for now, we will accept the positive reports.



— Deborah Smith is the director for Smart Start Stephens County. She can be reached at djsmith@unitedwayofsc.org or 580-255-3648.

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