Parental Influence

As a part of Josh McDowell's "Why Wait?" campaign, the Barna Research Group in Glendale, California, assisted several evangelical denominations in conducting a national survey among its youth. Here is a sampling of the results that relate to parent and teen relationships.

1. 75% of the youth said they were "very close" or "fairly close" to their father, 89% described the same relationship with their mother.
2. 51% said they "seldom" or "never" talk to their father about personal concerns, 67% said they "frequently" or "occasionally" ask their father for advice.
3. 87% said they "frequently" or "occasionally" felt proud of their father. 91% felt the same way about mother.
4. 81% said their parents "frequently" or "occasionally" spend time with them.
5. Only 58% said the "frequently" or "occasionally" did something special with their father that involved just the two of them. 53% said they spend less than 15 minutes each week talking to their father about things that matter to the youth.
6. 53% said their home is a place where they felt secure and loved.

The survey was conducted among church young people (96% Christians) and is almost identical to a larger sampling of Christian evangelical young people.