Annotated Bibliography

"DrugFacts: High School and Youth Trends." DrugFacts: High School and Youth Trends. National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school-youth-trends>.

This article is showing the statistics of drug use among teenagers. It talks about specific drugs, and the rates at which they are being used. It goes into depth about each drugs and the popularity among adolescents. This article shows the top drugs used by teens at certain age groups. It also shows that over the past 2 decades drug use among teenagers has decreased. Going back to the 1990’s we see that drug abuse and alcohol consumption has decreased.

This article is interesting to me, and is valuable to my topic because it gives valuable information that is contrary to what I would have expected. When approaching my stance I was planning on showing that the statistics of drug and alcohol use would grow as the church attendance among youth would decrease. However to my surprise I was wrong. I would like to use this information to narrow my topic, answer some questions, and assumptions made my religious leaders and really get down to why the youth are leaving the church. If it doesn’t correlate with drug use, what is it?

Call, Vaughn R. A., and Tim B. Heaton. "Religious Influence on Marital Stability." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion Vol. 36, No. 3 (Sep., 1997), pp. 382-392 Print. Wed. 13 Mar. 2015.

This article discusses the influence religion and church attendance has on marriages. It talks about how living religiously can help a relationship, and strengthen family. It also talks about the difference between harmonious marriages and functioning marriages. It looks into the effects of different forms of worship and different religions and how certain traditions, and rituals are effective in different ways.  

I would like to look at the parents of the teens leaving the church. Is there a contributing factor caused by the parents that is casing youth to leave the church. Questioning this, I looked to divorce rates, which many would say have increased, but have they really? Is divorce a strong contributing factor of youth leaving the church? I would like to use this article to see how couples can incorporate religion into their relationship, and if stable parents who are both religious could contribute to our youth attendance and solve some of these problems we are facing!

Shattuck, Kelly. "7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America." ChurchLeaders.com. CHURCH LEADERS Lead Better Every Day, 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-7-startling-facts-an-up-close-look-at-church-attendance-in-america.html>.

They conclude in this article that church attendance is in fact much less than has been advertised. It tells that over the past 30-40 years church attendance has drastically decreased. Why are the statistics unreliable? In this article they talk about what they call the “halo” effect; which basically means over dramatizing the good and minimizing the bad. Therefore when taking surveys, people are more willing to say they attend church most of the time, rather than admit they are addicted to alcohol.

This article is valuable to my research, because it shows that church attendance has in fact been declining. It also gives me new light to my research and my statistical findings, to know that obviously not all statistics are accurate, but even those with good sources and background, can be untrue due to people and their dishonesty, denial, or self-preservation. I would like to analyze this article and use it to help me determine why church attendance has decreased, what years were most noticeable, and what is causing people to be shameful about their attendance or lack thereof.  

"Prescription Drug Abuse Facts - What Is Prescription Drug Abuse? - Drug-Free World." Prescription Drug Abuse Facts - What Is Prescription Drug Abuse? - Drug-Free World. Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/prescription-drugs.html>.

This website is set up to give the facts about all kinds of drugs. It lists the origin and history of each licit and illicit drug. It gives the effects for short term and long term. It gives reasoning behind the drugs and what they were intended to be used for. They inform readers of the addictive properties and all things that are harmful when taking drugs. This website goes through all the details anyone would want to know about taking drugs, and what to expect.

                This website is extremely valuable to my research. As I read about each drug I gathered the reasoning behind why people take these drugs. By using this information I can better understand the problems these people are facing that they are trying to overcome, and therefore turn to drugs instead of wholesome help. After reading the reasoning behind these drugs I found some numbing qualities, telling me that kids want to escape from life. I also found quickly stimulating drugs telling me that kids may be looking for excitement or need a rush in their lives. As I analyze the needs and emotional desires of these kids, and why they turn to these drugs instead of things that bring real happiness, this article will be a useful source to me.

Dimock, Michael. "Growing Support for Gay Marriage: Changed Minds and Changing Demographics." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press RSS. Www.people-press.org, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/20/growing-support-for-gay-marriage-changed-minds-and-changing-demographics/>.

                This article gives statistics of people who are now supporting gay marriage. In comparison to past years, the rate of acceptance is much higher. It goes through the percentage of different reasoning’s as to why people are more open to it. A large percent of people support it because they know a friend who is gay who they wish to support. Other reasons differ from, “the times are changing, and so must we” and “I don’t care what they do, everyone should have equal rights.” Looking to the lowest percentage of reasons, we see that it has to do with religious affiliation.

                I would like to use this article in my paper, to show that there are many reasons why people are more supportive of gay marriage these days, however the lowest percentage on that list is affiliated with religion. I take from this, that the lowest supporter of gay marriage is religious people. Therefore, I would like to ask the question; are youth leaving the church because they feel that religious people should be supportive of gay people just like the rest of the world? And furthermore, do youth feel that the world is more Christian like, for accepting others, than their fellow church goers who turn their back to it? A close friend of mine, who recently left the church after being a member for 17 years, told me that she didn’t need the church to be a good person, in fact, people outside of the church are often more welcoming and accepting of others. I would like to use this mentality and expand on it.

Smith, Joseph. "Alma 24." The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981. Print.

Looking in the Book of Mormon, there are 3 scriptures that explain members leaving the church. Alma 23:6 talks about the conversion of the Lamanites. Because they were converted to the teachings of Christ they were strong and loyal to their savior. Alma 24:30 talks about youth who have been taught the faith all their lives but later leave because of transgression. Those who once had the love of Christ in their lives are now far more bitter and hateful towards the church than those who never had a knowledge of it. 1 Nephi 8:28 talks about those who have just tasted the fruit of life, but suddenly fall away into forbidden paths because of the scorn of their fellow man.

We see hundreds of examples in the scriptures of people falling into transgression and falling away from the church. These scriptures offer many different reasons for why people are leaving the church, and I believe they refer strongly to youth. Alma 23:6 states “Lamanites… were converted unto the Lord, and never did fall away” I believe that youth in the church today are leaving because they have never been truly converted to Christ. You hear hundreds of times, “I went to church cause my parents made me” or “I never really had a testimony, I just listened to my parents” I believe there is action we can take to truly convert our youth to the teachings of Christ. Alma 24:30 “And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallenaway into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.” I would like to analyze this scenario along with my statistics about drugs, alcohol, pornography etc… youth are falling into transgression and falling away from the church. What kinds of transgressions are swarming our youth today, and what can we do about it? 1 Nephi 8:28 “And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” Growing up we are taught not to give in to peer pressure. But how big of a problem is it really? If we were to talk to youth in the church how many would actually say they left because of peer pressure? This is what I would like to research. The view of the world and the potent desire to fit in; could it be causing youth to leave the church?