Post Niners

I chose option two for my issues paper. My current research questions is simply put, "what influences youth to leave religion?" It seems as if I should know the answer to this because I am considered a "youth". When I thought about this a lot more though, it's kind of hard to pin point exact things. We all understand that drugs, alcohol, and sex are huge reasons why kids don't like the standards that church rules bestow upon them, but are those the exact reason that they leave the church? Welp, I'm not sure. To research and familiarize myself with the topic, I plan to speak to others just to get an opinion first. I want a wide range of ideas so that my research can start off very broad. I then plan to narrow my search to something specific that immensely influences youth to change their beliefs. Once I figure this out, I will gather ideas from other youth again to begin forming a solution. This may be the hardest part, but I believe that it won't be as hard after speaking to those directly dealing with this problem. It may be interesting to also talk to church leaders or adults in the church just to get a gist of what they see and what they feel about their own children regarding change and falling away in the church. Another good way about research will involve the investigation of other faiths and how they deal with youth in the church.