Youth Today

Today’s society has taught our youth to question everything, from authority to nature. Yet according to Barna research, all they want is to be held accountable and to have someone actually listen to what they say. Yet as a society we are willing to back down, give up, or even ignore them as they are trying to tell us because we want to “save face.” Jack, from St. Louis said, Parents are the number one influence in his life but they are too willing to back down on what they say if someone questions what the outcome will be. When asked what he meant he said too many times he has asked to go do something with his friends and he is told know his parents will change their mind because they don’t want him to sit at home bored while his friends are out.
Parents almost seem to be trying so hard to understand what there teens are going through that they forget they need someone to hold them accountable too. Just because teens argue with their parents doesn’t mean they don’t like them or they don’t respect them it just means they don’t understand where the parent is coming from and want to.
Junior from South Carolina said that his peers have more to do with decisions and things that affect him than his parents. He would rely on his peers to choose what position he holds on subjects before what his parents’ thinks but he still respects his parents. He thinks the media has a lot to do with decisions he makes but he would ask his friends what they think before anyone else.
According to Barna research, Peers Parents and media are the top three things influencing teens today. Peers are more apt to have influence on teens regarding religion, what school sports or even what a teens is willing to experiment in. Statistics show that teens are more apt to go to church that their friends go to than one that they don’t know anyone at. More teens try drugs for the first time at parties where their friends are encouraging them to experiment. For a young girl she is more likely to lose