Site
Contents
 |
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
Area United Methodist
Foundation
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
Nov./Dec. 2004 |
Americans agree that kids are not being prepared for life
VENTURA, Calif. (Barna Research) -- The presidential election season has brought to light numerous issues on which the nation's population is divided. According to a new survey from The Barna Group, however, there is one issue on which most adults agree: the nation's children are not being adequately prepared for life.
|
"The family is obliged to invest in the life preparation of their own children." - George Barna |
Based on interviews with more than 1,000 adults nationwide, the survey discovered that less than one out of every five adults believes that children under the age of 13 are being "superbly" or "pretty well" prepared for life emotionally, physically, spiritually, intellectually or physically. Fewer than one out of every twenty adults believe that America's youngsters are receiving above average preparation in all five of those areas of life.
Adults were asked to evaluate how well children under the age of 13 are being prepared for life in each of five dimensions. Using a scale that ranged from "superbly" to "poorly," half or more of all adults contended that children are "not being prepared well enough" or are "poorly prepared" for the life that awaits them in relation to each of the five dimensions tested.
Adults feel most confident in the intellectual preparation that children receive these days. However, just 18 percent said kids are prepared "superbly" or "pretty well" in the intellectual dimension. In comparison, half of all adults said kids are "not prepared well enough" or are "poorly prepared" intellectually to effectively grapple with life.
Physical development generated a similar response pattern. One-sixth of adults (16 percent) felt that children were being superbly or pretty well prepared physically, while a slight majority (54 percent) felt they were not being prepared well enough or were being poorly prepared physically.
Adults indicated that children are faring somewhat worse in the area of emotional preparation: only 12 percent gave positive ratings compared 62 percent offering a negative assessment.
The lowest ratings, however, were reserved for the moral and spiritual preparation of children. Only 8 percent of adults said kids get better-than-adequate preparation in the spiritual realm, while more than 7-out-of-10 adults (71 percent) said children get inadequate spiritual training. Similarly, 8 percent said kids get above average moral preparation while three-fourths said youngsters get inadequate moral preparation.
The survey findings indicate that parents feel they are being let down by society. In his analysis of the data, George Barna noted that the same people who are anguished about the mediocre support that children receive -- that is parents -- are the ones primarily responsible for the problem. "Parents alone may be incapable of fully equipping their children in every area of life," the survey's director explained, "but the common strategy of waiting for social institutions to provide whatever their children need is seriously flawed. The family is obliged to invest in the life preparation of their own children. Passing youngsters off to agencies ought to be a secondary option, not the primary means through which values, skills and perspectives are developed. And when parents lean on institutions for help in this process, unless parents hold those institutions accountable, the quality of life preparation that our nation's children receive will continue to fail to meet even the most modest standards."
The data described in this report are based on a nationwide telephone survey conducted in September 2004 by The Barna Group. In total, 1011 adults were interviewed, providing a maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample of adults is ñ3.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
The Barna Group, Ltd., and its research division (The Barna Research Group), is a privately held, for-profit corporation that conducts primary research, produces visual media and books, and facilitates the healthy development of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008