What Are Teenagers Interested In?

If your Sunday school is to have a strong and effective program for teenagers, you must be sure that your program keeps in mind the interests of those kids. The Search Institute recently surveyed over 3,000 churchgoing teenagers to learn what their interests are. Here’s what these kids said they wanted to learn:

How to make and keep friends.

How to know and love Jesus Christ.

How to know whom God is.

How to love life more.

Hoe to discern between right and wrong.

How to find purpose in life and how to like themselves more.

How to find the Bible’s meaning for their lives and experience God’s love and forgiveness.

How to recognize what’s special about them and to develop compassion for others.

How to make choices and decisions and get advice when they need it.

How to make a difference in the world, communicate better with their parents and develop leadership skills.

(This article appeared in the "Spring, 1995" issue of "The Herald.")