Talking Religion With Your Child: Should it be Child-Centered or Parent-Centered?

This post is the first in a series based on videos available in our new BYU Social Sciences YouTube channel! The channel contains highlights of many of our most popular lectures and useful, succinct, research-backed advise on relationship, political, religious, media, and financial issues. Follow us there to stay up-to-date on wisdom that will help you and  your family live better lives.

The question of the prominence of faith in a family’s culture is a very personal one, and the evidence of the answer to that question can look quite different across religions, families, and time. But some things are universal. All families have parents or guardians who love and/or care for children, and by virtue of their experiences or age or parental position, strongly hope to influence, if not determine, their progeny’s religious behaviors. Most do it through multiple conversations and activities throughout the formative lives of their children. How effective those conversations are can depend on a lot of different factors. David Dollahite, a professor of Family Life who has conducted much research on the topic and advises parents to make sure those conversations are “child-centered.” What exactly does that mean? Watch this short video to find out:

 

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