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NEWS EXTRA

Report links spirituality and well-being in young people

Spirituality gives young people living in towns and cities a sense of purpose, says a new report.

Almost three-quarters of young people who pray daily were found to have a sense of purpose, compared to just 48% who never pray.

Spiritual Health and the Well-Being of Urban Young People explores the relationship between the spirituality and well-being of over 30,000 young people in England and Wales. The report reveals that eight out of 10 young people with a sense of purpose found life worth living. In contrast, over 50 per cent of young people without a sense of purpose considered committing suicide.

Findings illustrate the role spirituality has in building a sense of purpose, helping young people to improve their perceptions of themselves, their communities, ethnic diversity, and concern for global issues such as Third World poverty. This demonstrates the link between spirituality and improved overall well-being.

The report makes the following key recommendations:

The Government should explore a spiritual dimension in its flagship Every Child Matters agenda
The Government and faith groups to support parenting's life-long commitment, even if relationships between parents break down - more than half of young people answered 'not sure' or 'no' when asked if they found it helpful to talk about their problems with parents
To promote anti-racist programmes in schools and youth clubs to combat the anxieties that feed racist attitudes among young people - one in six young people feel there are too many black people living in Britain
Greater recognition that repeated negative portrayal of young people can have a damaging impact on their well-being

The Reverend Baroness Richardson of Calow, Chairman of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith said: "Spirituality is too often taken for granted, but when it is absent, the results clearly show a negative mark on young people's well-being. We can learn a valuable lesson from this report, one which could protect our children and help them to flourish."

The Right Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester and Chair of The Children's Society's Board of Trustees said: "Life can be difficult for all young people wherever they live, but urban living makes finding a sense of purpose difficult for people to find. This is having detrimental knock-on effects in our local communities. This report offers spiritual resources as a means to explore how we can mend young people's relationships with themselves, their families and neighbours and with God."

For the full report please visit www.culf.org.uk or www.childrenssociety.org.uk

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		NEWS EXTRA Report links spirituality and well-being in young people Spirituality gives young people living in towns and cities a sense of purpose, says a new report. Almost three-quarters of young people who pray daily were found to have a sense of purpose, compared to just 48% who never pray. Spiritual Health and the Well-Being of Urban Young People explores the relationship between the spirituality and well-being of over 30,000 young people in England and Wales. The report reveals that eight out of 10 young people with a sense of purpose found life worth living. In contrast, over 50 per cent of young people without a sense of purpose considered committing suicide. Findings illustrate the role spirituality has in building a sense of purpose, helping young people to improve their perceptions of themselves, their communities, ethnic diversity, and concern for global issues such as Third World poverty. This demonstrates the link between spirituality and improved overall well-being. The report makes the following key recommendations: The Government should explore a spiritual dimension in its flagship Every Child Matters agenda The Government and faith groups to support parenting's life-long commitment, even if relationships between parents break down - more than half of young people answered 'not sure' or 'no' when asked if they found it helpful to talk about their problems with parents To promote anti-racist programmes in schools and youth clubs to combat the anxieties that feed racist attitudes among young people - one in six young people feel there are too many black people living in Britain Greater recognition that repeated negative portrayal of young people can have a damaging impact on their well-being The Reverend Baroness Richardson of Calow, Chairman of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith said: "Spirituality is too often taken for granted, but when it is absent, the results clearly show a negative mark on young people's well-being. We can learn a valuable lesson from this report, one which could protect our children and help them to flourish." The Right Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester and Chair of The Children's Society's Board of Trustees said: "Life can be difficult for all young people wherever they live, but urban living makes finding a sense of purpose difficult for people to find. This is having detrimental knock-on effects in our local communities. This report offers spiritual resources as a means to explore how we can mend young people's relationships with themselves, their families and neighbours and with God." For the full report please visit www.culf.org.uk or www.childrenssociety.org.uk © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.