Hope for future: New poll says young people are valuing faith

You wouldn’t know it by listening to rap music — and there are more than a few places on the Internet that might suggest otherwise, but a new poll taken by The Associated Press and MTV suggests that young people might have their priorities in place.

The questions were part of an overall survey designed to gauge what makes young people happy, according to the poll-takers.

And what they found, was that, for the most part, teens who had religion in their lives were happy.

Of those polled, 44 percent said that religion or faith was very important in their lives. Another 21 percent said faith was somewhat important to them.

The respondents also indicated a willingness to accept other faiths and to respect the beliefs of anyone who chose spirituality for their lives.

Now, the findings should not put an end to any worries we have about the next generation. There is still ample evidence that social mores are changing and that acceptable behavior has a new meaning these days.

But this survey suggests that teens are searching for something to believe in and a direction to follow — and that for many of them, the answers they are looking for are in their churches.

That should make you look ahead with some hope as you wonder what kind of leaders the younger set will be. Many of them seem to understand there might be more to life than what they see on MTV.

The survey has been interesting — raising all sorts of questions about the preconceived notions many adults have about young people.

So, maybe, there might be a bit more to explore about teenagers — and much more reason to have confidence in the majority of them.

Published in Editorials on August 24, 2007 1:42 PM