Today's College Student: Lost in Transition (?)

For the next couple of days, I am focused on synthesizing research regarding the changing cultural landscape of today's college student.  I will post a few of the resources that have captured my attention and may be worth your time to peruse. 

The first is Lost in Transition, by Christian Smith, along with Hillary Davidson, Kari Christofferson and Patricia Snell Herzog (08-04-2011).

Based on their on-going studies of teenagers who have now become "emerging adults", Smith explores the "darker side of emerging adulthood". The chapters are:

1. Morality Adrift
2. Captives to Consumerism
3. Intoxications: Fake Feelings of Happiness
4. The Shadow Side of the Sexual Revolution
5. Civic & Political Disengagement

While sociological "data" can be extracted from each chapter, the writing focuses around in-depth personal interviews with 230 emerging adults, enabling us to understand, even empathize with the world of the 18-23 year-old (the narrower focus of this present study).  

Great insights into the world of today's college student.  

Millenials: Fast Company's InfoGraphic

In a couple of weeks, I will be sharing with a group of leaders an overview of the changing student culture. It is timely to have Fast Company publish their latest InfoGraphic, "The Blessing and Curse of Being a Millenial."  The infographic gives a visual summary of the generation's diversity, political leanings, lifestyle preferences, education and work opportunities.  Nice little summary.

Divisions of People

Divisions of People is a thought provoking video from our friends at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, shown at Urbana '09. Enjoy...

The Divisions of People from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.

The Next Christian - Lyons Interview

If you haven't seen it yet, you might want to invest the 5 minutes and 36 seconds to watch the ABC News spot: Focus On Faith, entitled, "What's Wrong with Today's Christians?", an interview with Gabe Lyons.

Begins with a recounting of the rise of the Religious Right, including Lyon's "embarrassment" from peoples' perceptions of Christians (think, UnChristian). He also shares his perspective on the "attractional church".

But the greatest value (at least in light of my interests) is his brief insights into the emerging generation of believers as those "restorers". This begins BTW at 3:50 min into the interview.

We have continued to watch (with interest) this growing value among students over the last decade. The tsunami (Dec. '04) began to give initial motion within our movements, accelerating with the response to Katrina and now spilling into more and more campus movements, summer projects, partnerships and collaborative efforts.

Part of "The Changing Landscape of Campus Ministry".

Facebook's Backstory

Having just posted GenY's usage of Facebook, it may be of interest to consider a bit of the backstory of Facebook -- Hollywood style along with social commentary. Here to do that, is Chuck Colson, in his Breakpoint for the day, "The Social Network: A Crisis of Ethics in America".

Sage Advice on Using Research

I like research, especially when it done by someone else. This is not because I am lazy (though that could be discussed among friends.) It is because I know my strengths—my training, experience and expertise—and high-level statistical social research isn't included. Let’s say I have a BA in Speech Communication and a Masters in Divinity. ‘Nuff said.

I also like all I’ve read by Christian Smith. He is what I am not (a sociologist) and does what I don’t (high-level statistical studies on our audience, particularly youth and emerging adults.) But today I am reflecting, not on his research, per se, but on his sage advice to us who rely on other’s people’s research and ideas. These excerpts are taken from a lecture he gave at Princeton in 2005, following the publication of Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Ponder these excerpts:

To begin, we suggest that faith communities would do well to stop accepting and promulgating what may be simplistic generalizations about American youth that originated from various popular book authors, substandard research studies, journalistic coverage of youth, common stereotypes about teens, and so on.

Note the key phrase: "simplistic generalizations"!

We have observed a noticeable tendency when it comes to youth—including among youth ministry workers—to overgeneralize, overstate issues, frame situations in alarmist or fear-based terms, and latch onto simplistic answers to alleged problems. But the fact is that the lives, including the religious lives, of American youth are diverse and complicated.

Four sins (Am I guilty?) or tendencies:

• To overgeneralize
• To overstate issues
• To frame situations in alarmist or fear-based terms
• To latch onto simplistic answers to alleged problems

Why these are wrong? Because “the lives, including the religious lives, of American youth are diverse and complicated.” (You can say that again. Oh, I think I just did.)

Thus, religious communities may do well to learn to be more discerning, more skeptical of alarmist claims, less captivated by trendy popular books, and more perceptive about the diversity and complexity of the experience and situation of U.S. teenagers. We suspect that they would likely then be more effective in planning programs, prioritizing initiatives, and working with teens in ways more true to their own traditions and identities and more effective over the long run.

So what we need to be is...

• More discerning
• More skeptical of alarmist claims
• Less captivated by trendy popual books
• More perceptive about the diversity and complexity of the experience and situation

What outcome should we expect? We would no doubt be “more effective in planning…, prioritizing…, and working…more true… and effective over the long run.”

Nice lecture from the esteemed professor of Sociology. Wonder if we have to know this for the final?

A Chartreuse Generation & the Make-up of a Future One

As I am pouring through my backed up e-mails from the week, two items arrested my attention.

First, the color of this generation. Let's go with chartreuse, not a deep green. This thought was stimulated by MediaPost's, "Chartreuse is the Real Color of GenY". The bottom-line -- much greener in values than in action (at least when it comes to consumption.) Or should we say "hard-core light green"? (Nice epithet, in a positive sense of that word.)

Second, what will be the composition of a future generation of college students? Here from USA Today is a glimpse at the class of 2024: "Kindergartens See More Hispanic, Asian Students". Not surprising. But interesting, none the less. We have fourteen years to get ready for them. Is that in your long-term strategic planning? Does your current plans reflect these changing realities? If not, check out Destino and the Epic Movement.

Ex-Christian II

Earlier today, I posted on the Barna research with an intro regarding Anne Rice's departure from Catholicism ("Ex-Christians"). Later this afternoon, I received the Christianity Today eNewletter that featured, "Q&A: Anne Rice on Following Christ without Christianity". Since I mentioned the wikipedia quotes, it seems more responsible to include this interview to capture a fuller sense of Ms. Rice's journey.

Ex-Christians

Barna Research has recently released (Aug 16, 2010) new finding entitled, "Do Americans Change Faiths?"

The report begins with a very brief reference to writer's Anne Rice's public departure from organized or institutional Christianity (i.e. in this case, Roman Catholicism). It is worth reading a bit more about her thoughts and experience, which can be easily done at the Wikipedia article about her. Her departure stems from her experience of "Christians", not of Christ, in whom she continues to confess faith. She writes:

It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider.

How many new believers experience similar? It underscores the need for a community of grace and truth in Christ-centered community.

But within the Barna study itself is this: While one if four adults indicated they had changed from their childhood religion, 12% had left Christian (in some form) for no religion or another religion, while only 3% of the adults left no religion or some other religion for Christianity. Should this alarm us? Remember that 78% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape survey (Pew). So the departure numbers are quite consistent with the percentages of "Christians" to non.

Its worth noting that 75% of those in our culture will not deviate from the faith of their childhood. As Kinnaman concludes,

"...the study underscores that the spiritual allegiances of childhood are remarkably sustainable in our society."

Thoughts?

Q Conference

ABC News did an interesting interview at the Q Conference on the "End of Christianity", as embraced by, well, Christians.

Thoughts?

The Illuminated Atheist

I have a casual interest in reading the writings and considering the thinking of atheists. I am generally intrigued by their logic, fascinated by their experience and concerned for their well-being. I don't have the time (or probably more honestly, the desire) to be an avid reader of their writings or engage deeply in on-going dialogue, but my interest is genuine.

So I take note of things like Fast Company's article: "Atheism Gets a Much Needed Rebranding". The intriguing quote is,

"Atheism is quite often mistakenly seen as a cold and distant world, rather than the beautiful, important, and engaging philosophy that it is," says Matt Luckhurst, a student in the School of Visual Arts Designer as Author MFA program.

It intrigues me to consider in what sense does an atheist see their philosophy of "beautiful"? "Important" and "engaging" are easier to understand. But the beauty of atheism? Intriguing.

Fortunately, Matt has provided a glimpse into reality as he perceives it with his website The Illuminated Atheist. It's mission is thus:

Illuminated Atheist is a website dedicated to making stories and writings of non-theism by illuminating them with exceptional artwork, design and photograpchy: subverting the concept of illuminated manuscripts the church once used to socialize its ideas. For those void of religion and full of belief.

"Void of religion and full of belief". A very winsome description of atheism. I'm looking forward to perusing this site more.

Our Semi-Literate Society

Stephen Perk announced the cessation of the regular publishing schedule of Christianity & Society, the bi-annual journal of the Kuyper Foundation. I am struck by the reasons given—reasons which highlight the change in society and the communication of information, and more importantly ideas.

Three reasons are given: First, the volume of essays submitted for publication has significantly declined. Why? “Essays get published immediately on the internet on websites and blogsites.” Second, they have other projects to pursue. But it is the third that I draw attention to here.

“…that British society (possibly even Western society generally) is becoming semi-literate. The number of people who can be reached by intelligent literature is declining drastically. …we no longer have: a literate society.”

Perk relates a couple of examples of this sad reality. One is as follows: “…when I recently tried to organise a non-fiction reading group, I was told by one person whom I approached as a possible member of the group: “I got through college without reading any books, why should I start now?”

As he draws his thoughts to a close, he makes this observation:

“If we do communicate the message of the gospel effectively to our society in a way that most people can understand, and the result is the re-Christianising of the nation, this will eventually produce a literate society, because wherever Christianity has gone this has been the result. Christianity is a religion of the book.”

Is he right? Christianity is certainly the religion of the Book. And it is certainly the case since the Reformation, fueled in part by the fruit of Gutenberg’s movable type, that literacy has been tied to Christian education and missions. It is evidenced in the Bible translation work of global missions.

But communication media have changed, and not for the first time. The oral society gave way to the literate. The literate society has given way to the broadcast society. And now the broadcast society is yielding to the rise of the digital. Rex Miller has explored these changes in The Millenial Matrix.

Where will this lead? How will it impact not only the spread of the gospel (in relation to the breadth of its reach) but the embrace of the gospel (the depth of its influence on lives and society)?

Stats Abuse: An Evangelical Tendency

Fascinating article by Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research, entitled, "Curing Christians Stats Abuse." While it doesn't often a "cure", it does provide insight into the state of Evangelical Christianity in the U.S. Stetzer's conclusion:

"Reports of Christianity's demise in America have been greatly exaggerated."

The article begins debunking a couple of the popular abuses of statistics found among Evangelicals with a cause to promote. Is the abuse intentional or just misguided? I trust the later.

Two thirds of the way through the article, Stetzer has a section entitled (and summarizing) "What does the Good Research say?" It is worth taking a moment and skimming down there, even if you don't have time for the whole article.

The insights of the article are not only valuable in better understanding the use of stats, but this section on "Good Research" compiles a helpful glimpse of the state of religion in our culture. Implications for evangelism?

Mystical America

Pew research report, "Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths" (Dec 9, 2009)...

Nearly half of the public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a "moment of sudden religious insight or awakening." This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994 and more than twice as high as a 1962 Gallup survey (22%).

More evidence of the spiritual orientation of (post-)postmodern America.

Evangelizing Postmoderns Revisited

In 1998, I had the privilege of working with Dr. D.A. Carson and others from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in co-sponsoring "Telling the Truth", a three-day conference focused on evangelism in a postmodern age. As I shall be presenting a two-part workshop at Encounter '09 conference in Greensboro on "Evangelism in a Postmodern Age", I picked up "Telling The Truth" (the book which compiled our conference talks from '98) to see what has changed -- what we have learned since then. Interesting exercise that will perhaps (if I'm ambitious enough) will provide the grist for future blogs.

The first chapter is by Ravi Zacharias exploring, "An Ancient Message, through Modern Means, to a Postmodern Mind".

The most memorable line from Ravi's talk was the probing question,

"How do we communicate the gospel to a generation that hears with it eyes and thinks with its feelings?"

A decade later, is that still the question? Does that hit the bulls eye in defining the issue?

If so, are we communicating better now than ten years ago? My answer is "definitely" -- but more on why later.

Your thoughts?

A ChaCha Glimpse of Research

It is the midst of tracking student issues and attitudes, it is sometimes refreshing getting a quick read on how they are feeling "at the moment". Christmas time certainly qualifies as a distinctive moment to check in. Susan Marshall, Vice President of Marketing at ChaCha, shares what they are hearing from their constituents in MediaPost's "Bah Humbug!"

ChaCha has received almost 2 million questions over the last few days. Interestingly, about 43,000 related to depression and the holidays. Hmm... That is interesting.

What concerns ChaCha users? Overwhelming concerns: The Future. College. Jobs. The Economy.

Their research shows what was number one the gift wish -- electronics. (That clue should help you do your Christmas shopping.)

What is NOT surprising?

It's pretty obvious that they really want to be connected and to feel loved, especially during these uncertain times.

No surprise there...

Students' Taste in Advertising

What does this generation of students respond to in advertising? A column by Dan Coates for Engage:GenY entitled "Ad Infinitum" gives us the answer. This isn't highly surprising, but helpful to have summarized.

1. Humor
2. Good music
3. Very practical information
4. Meaningful & relevant experiences

If this is what they prefer in advertising, what does it suggest about other media messaging?

College Students & Technology: Totally Wired

Here are insights from the Center of Media Research report, "Totally Wired", based on Alloy Media + Marketing's 9th annual College Explorer Survey:

Technology is third in student discretionary spending, behind food and autos.

Students are spending twice as much time on their computers (5 hrs/day) as compared to television viewing (2.5 hrs/day). Cellular devices come in third (2.4 hrs/day) and MP3 at 1.3 hrs/day. The encouraging news (in my opinion), is gaming devices are only .75 hrs/day. But together that adds up to 9.5 hours of media intake per day. Now if you are good at math, you say, "Wait, doesn't it all add up to almost 12 hours/day?" Ah... you forget. Students love to multi-task. So the 12 hours are accomplished in 9.5. Aren't you excited about the 2.5 hours saved?

The conclusion: Andy Sawyer, SVP, Media Services for Alloy Media + Marketing, concludes that "... advancements in technology have clearly given students increasing control and ease... to socialize, communicate and be entertained on demand..."

"Socialize, communicate & be entertained on demand..." Hmm... What a life...

Evangelicals - Living Up to our Name?

Philip Yancey wrote a final column for the back page of Christianity Today, O Evangelicos! His final line:

Some of my friends believe we should abandon the word evangelical. I do not. I simply yearn for us to live up to the meaning of our name.

What do you think?

Communicating Sin to an iGen

A few days ago, I wrote a post quoting Tim Keller on "Communicating Sin to a Postmodern". Keller suggests it is helpful to communicate "sin is primarily idolatry."

Here is another example of communicating need from Scott McKnight. In his article, "The Gospel for iGens", he draws from Alan Mann's book, Atonement for a Sinless Society, and concludes, "For a person to feel guilty, that person must have a sense of morality." That appears lacking in this postmodern culture. So, how do you demonstrate need in a compelling (rather than repelling) way? McKnight suggests:

"...I have found that the self-in-a-castle feels shame about systemic sin, and their sensitivity to things like AIDS, poverty, and racism leads inevitably to recongizing the sin in each person. At some point in this movement to the castle door, the iGen will realize that systemic sin is linked to personal sin. Suddenly he or she feels accountable to God."

The whole article is worth the read. But I am intrigued comparing traditional "sin is falling short" messaging, with the approaches of both Keller ("sin is idolatry") and McKnight ("systemic sin links to personal sin").

Thoughts?