Teenagers and young adults are increasingly interested in talking with their parents about spiritual and religious matters. As children mature into adolescence, they tend to spend less time with their parents in joint activities but more time engaged in conversation. The youth want to have these conversations, especially if they believe parents will listen respectfully to their honest questions, doubts, and dilemmas.
But youth report that too often, parents are too directive and fall back into preaching, telling, bossing, and lecturing. They also reported that their parents tend to talk too much about mundane things (chores, homework, grades, money) instead of the things that matter most to the youth themselves.
The article “How Can I Talk to My Teen about Religion?” provides practical suggestions to help parents improve the religious conversations they have with their teenage children.
For more parenting ideas, see the section “Christlike Parenting” in the Life Help section of Gospel Library.