Simon Cox Blog: Teens Read Bible More During the School Year

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Teens Read Bible More During the School Year

The latest study from Barna also shows how many teens think the Bible offers hope, and whether their house rules are influenced by Scripture.

Most practicing Protestant teenagers—those who identify as Protestant, attend church at least once a month, and say their faith is very important in their lives—who read their Bible do so the same amount all year long (73%), much like all Bible-reading American teens (69%).

Of those who are left, 18 percent of practicing Protestant teens read more during the school year; only half that amount read more during the unstructured summer (9%). Those numbers echo across all teens (21% read more during school, 10% in the summer) and non-practicing Christian teens (19% read more in the school year, 10% in the summer).

Those findings come from the second annual poll of how more than 1,000 teens ages 13 to 17 interact with the Bible, commissioned by the American Bible Society and conducted by the Barna Group in May.

Though there are fewer of them (16%, compared to 20% in 2015), practicing Protestant teens look a lot like they did last year. Slightly fewer said the Bible contains everything needed for a meaningful life (85%, down from 88%) and said they read their Bible every day (12%, down from 16%). A few more said they had read a liturgical text in the last week (14%, up from 10%).

The survey also asked brand-new questions, including whether teens saw their parents reading the Bible. Half of practicing Protestants (49%) said their parents read Scripture regularly; another 42 percent said sometimes.

Teens whose parents read the Bible regularly are more likely to read it themselves, Barna told CT. Among teens who say their parents read the Bible regularly or sometimes, 45 percent report reading from the Bible at least once a week, compared to just 5 percent of teens whose parents do not read it regularly.

Of the teens who read ...