Nicole M.

Sayson

12- Queen of Confessors

I. INTRODUCTION

Religion is one of the major areas prone to debates up until now. May it be
relating to philosophy, science, state, or relationship with the divine. Its beliefs, facts,
claims, suspicions are all open to arguments. As we are in the age of religious
complexity, Pastor Thompson (2017) found out that “we have another god we’ve
created that is always demanding our time, attention, and money.” By this, the term god
has been substituted to opportunities, issues, and other things concerning us and
religion would just be a matter of personal choice.

Being the only Christian nation in Asia, population of Catholics in the Philippines
(82.9%) have grown based on the CIA World Factbook (2017). This have been the
mode of inquiry as conflicts on people’s hesitance to conform on religious practices
have been arising. Teens, with their contentious nature, are the major contributors of
this social phenomena. It was said that teen members are drifting away from religious
organizations, as stated by Twenge et al., (2014) in their research study. That is why
“Teenage Problems 101: Teenagers’ hesitance to conform to Catholic-based practices”
imposes questions of faith and conformity to Catholic belief system of young people. It
is alarming as well that students that are thesis participants in a databank that
concluded that religiosity plays a major role in their life, as stated by Child Trends
(2014), has gradually decreased since 2000.

This area of research manifests the group’s common interest which is religion.
Researchers are all eager to find out how their age group react to their classified
religion which is Catholicism. A part of youth, the participants of this research, is an
interesting subject when asked about religion. Jones (2016) notes that young people
tend to be insubstantial when embracing “something as complex and introspective as
spirituality.” They are much more inclined with what is given rather than thinking for
something disputable and in need of thorough findings.
 The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the hesitation of teenagers
involving Catholic-based practices to eliminate the stigma caused by it. Teens have
different means on perceiving religion as some of them no longer prioritize participating
in catholic activities because they want to be engaged in “a more authentic religion of
less reflection, with less routine, and more awareness (Koh 2017).”

First inquiry that needs to be addressed in this research is how do teenagers

perceive religious practices. As of this age, religious institutions may not be the priority
of teenagers in finding their sense of belongingness as they are now catering more
channels of communications other than having religious affiliations (Voices of Youth,
2011). Although there are numbered positive outcomes of religion in adolescents’ lives,
they still neglect some of their responsibilities towards it because of its difficulty, and by
difficulty means that adolescents are not fond of massive predicaments that hinders
their mental and social capacities. The reasons of the teenagers to deviate from these
practices is the second inquiry in need for further discussion. Br. Dunlevy (2014) openly
spoke about the reason why people neglect or hide our faith is that we have observed
that faith has been rejected as well. Third aspect in need for deliberation is the society’s
role on the effects of the deviance on the participants’ way of behaving as Catholics.
Myers & Twenge (2017) discussed that “social influences can be enormous enough to
to induce people to violate their deepest convictions.” With this, society’s response can
lead to change of mind of teenagers even though they are unyielding when it comes to
participating in religious practices.

20 random Catholic Senior High School Students, age ranges from 16-18, in the
two (2) SHS departments of First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (Fidelis
Senior High and FAITH Catholic School) will serve as the respondents of this study. This
study is only limited to the given participants. Any respondent that is not associated in this
matter will not be utilized.

The study is related to the variation in society and conformity under the study of
Sociology tackled in the subjects Community Engagement (CommEng), Social, Political
and Cultural Studies (SoCulPo), and Disciplines in Social Sciences (DISS) as well as
Christian Living Education (CLE) because it concerns religion. Its relevance stems from
the research’s intention to promote the acceptance and open-mindedness of the society
towards the different perceptions of Catholic-based practices.

Assumptions of this study are best interpreted in these ways: (1) Teenagers’
perception of religion varies from the above-mentioned factors that affect them. (2)
Deviation is due to multiple factors that influence an individual. It may be because of
past experiences (that may have strengthened or weakened an individual's sense of
conformity), social circles, or the environment that surrounds the individual, and (3)
Filipino society has been practicing conservatism wherein they tend to live by the
traditions they have woken up to. In a way, the strict observance of culture may have
been set into religion as well, whereas people are required to actively participate in a
religious group.

II. REFERENCES

Child Trends Databank (2014). Religiosity Among Youth.

Retrieved October 7, 2017 from https://www.childtrends.org/indicators=religiosity-

among-youth

CIA World Factbook (2017). The World Factbook

Retrieved October 4, 2017 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-

world-factbook/geos/rp.html

Dunlevy, I. (2014). Hesitance

Retrieved October 4, 2017 from https://www.dominicanajournal.org/hesitance/

Koh, L.M.L. (2017). Teens and Religion

Retrieved October 9, 2017 from https://children.adventist.org/teens-and-religion-

(handouts).pdf

Myers, D.G., & Twenge, J.M. (2017). Social Psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education
Thompson, P. (2017). Pastor’s Corner: This age of religious complexity.

Retrieved October 7, 2017 from http://magicvalley.com/lifestyles/faith-and-

values/pastor-s-corner-this-age-of-religious-complexity/article_deeacc30-381a-
5896-9106-eb4582c412a5.html

Twenge, J.M., Exline J.J., Grubbs J.B., Sastry, R., & Campbell, W.K. (2015).
Generational and Time Period Differences in American Adolescents’ Religious
Orientation, 1966-2014. PLOS ONE 10(5): e0121454.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0121454

Voices of Youth (2011). Today’s Young People and the future of Religion

Retrieved October 4, 2017 from http://www.voicesofyouth.org/posts/todays

young-people-and-the-future-of-religion