The Light From Birth: Children and Religion
Nathan was born into the catholic religion, and grew up with a devoted catholic family and environment. At the age of 14, he had received several of the catholic sacraments which prove to the church worthy of being a member. He was involved in the church and in the community and even was top of his class with everything involving the history of catholicism. He quickly realized he was being confined to something he did not enjoy, which provoked his rebellious stage. But, as a 14 year old is starting to discover the world and its influences, Nathan turned over to drugs and ultimately lost his sense with religion.. He was raised with the idealism of being sinless, but it now had turned into a challenge to be sinful behind his parents backs. Being raised and forced into a religion is a major influence on a person’s life, especially shaping their life right off birth. Nathan is an example of the consequences of implying a religion onto children. Young children are the most vulnerable to influence and teach one’s way. Some are even way too young to speak their mind. Children should make their own decisions when it comes to religion and not be forced into one.
There are psychological effects to those who were under religious practices.
Children, who every day are constantly progressing in their growth, have a sponge-like brain which absorbs everything. This can have a severe effect on these children later in life. As there is a sense of security and conformity in religion, there has been a recent uprising of a mental disorder called Religious Trauma Syndrome, or RTS. Explained by Dr. Marlene Winell, RTS is experienced by past occurrences regarding religious scriptures, or practices, which affects cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural behavior (2019). Additionally, the symptoms with this disorder include having depression, a loss of meaning and social networks, and confusion. This can be triggered by perhaps how intense a religion would be to a child, or young adult. The sense of guiltiness and fear from one’s actions are emotions that can be detrimental to their health. Starting off children in environments that no one will know how it will affect them later in life is a risky decision. Therefore, the need for a consideration of future consequences due to the impulsivity of religion onto children should be taken in mind.
Of course, there is the inevitable of knowing what will happen if exposed to religion, but that does not mean that these symptoms will not appear because of religion. Signs of anxiety and depression can be shown from different ranges of age, and can be caused by other factors, but adding religion to those factors can be shocking. As there is this concept and reputation of religion being more good than harm, does not necessarily mean that harm is nonexistent.
Children are the most susceptible to believing what anyone says. While this topic revolves around religion, here are some examples on how parents, or peers, influence an undeveloped mind. Society targets the most gullible group, that is children, to believe in fictional characters such as Santa, The Tooth Fairy, and even the Easter Bunny. These characters have all been engraved during youth. While these characters do not correlate to any religious aspects, it does demonstrate the use of manipulation, especially from parents. From infancy to now, most rely on their parents and parental approval of certain situations. Parents are deeply involved in the disciplinary and knowledge facets of one’s life, that while growing up, they would do anything in their creativity to make a child believe in something that is not. And for years, the majority of the younger portion of the population deeply believed this. Blake Harper published an article in 2021 called “‘Is Santa Real?” A Psychologist’s Case for Telling Kids The Truth”, where the debate of lying to children would be of great harm. He furthered his point by stating that manipulation can cause a buildup of lies to children and have a likelihood of distrust once children find out what their parents have been lying about.
This associates in aspects of religion as there can be a factor of fantasy behind religion, and there is also the jeopardization that children will find out the real truth behind their religion or purpose. These children will tend to lose their sense of trust for their parents and family if they later find out their own beliefs differ from what they have been exposed to growing up.
Age is restrictive in all matters. There is the debate on setting the drinking age back, recently there was the change of age on nicotine products from 18 to 21 and then the 26th amendment was passed with the age of 18 being able to vote. But, with religion there seems to be a blind side. Now there is the concern of there being a minimum age within religious matters. Whether or not children should attend services or even have the right to say are topics that the Child Rights International Network, CRIN, are here to support. CRIN disclosed the say of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to religion being the only matter justified from children refusing practices that take a toll of their integrity (2016). These are highly advocated programs that also ensure that every being, young or old, have their permitted rights.
People that derive from religious families could rely on customs that they once grew in, but as there is change in times and modern influences as well. There are a variety of categorical beliefs and titles that one may fall under, but the pressure towards children and the rush to confine to these categories may embolden these children to follow the crowd, without acknowledging their own wants.
In contradiction of the previous points stated, religion has a rather undeniable advantage. In 2008, an article published by John Bartkowski, Xiaohe Xu, and Stephen Bartkowski called “Mixed Blessing: The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Religion on Child Development among Third-Graders” had found that children who attended religious services and had positive parent-child relationships regarding religion, would overall have an enhancement of psychological and social competence in children. Despite the heavy influences we see nowadays, including social media, friends, and even family, some influences can be very beneficial to the individual. Religion is a topic in which several opposing outcomes can arise. It is also a topic that has also been proven to get people into a deeper thought about what they view could be possible, specifically after a person’s death from this world. Having a layer of faith is not at all a bad mindset, there just needs to be a reliable reason for this faith from children.
These types of deep intellectual thoughts are vital to demonstrate the expansion of one idea to another. With this arguable topic in mind, these profound thoughts and the exposure to children need to depend on the many types of ideas that grasp onto a true idea of what the individual believes in themselves. This “flip of a coin” is one that has no clear right or wrong side. The objective is whatever side the individual believes to have the least downsides, as both sides to the philosophical tug-of war between age and religion have their own pros and cons. In the end, it is up to each individual to come up with their own set of beliefs. Which in turn is why there should be a limit on how much exposure to religion children can get at their most manipulative age. Some exposure can benefit the child throughout life; however, too much of a good thing can also become something much worse, ultimately leading to a sense of distrust or even disdain because of a religious fallout.
Ultimately, the topic of religion and children is a sensitive matter, in which again it all comes down to the individual. Other than religion being an influence there are other aspects that take into place. As adults, one can manage their decision and speak on their thoughts, but as children their vulnerability of being dependent on their parents or guardians, their decisions are not their own. With that stated, their decision on religion is not yet clear as some have even not reached the 2 month developmental milestone. As each generation goes by with various forms of child discipline, it all can correlate to the fundamentals of religion. Society needs to take in mind the development in children as society also progresses. These children have a mind of themselves and have self thoughts that might not even complement their parents’ own mind. So instead of limiting those minds, contemplate the variety of religions out in the world. Let those children be aware of the practices and beliefs of the religion they feel most comfortable with and also the flexibility they might enjoy.
References
Dare to Doubt. (2019). Dare to Doubt | Religious Trauma Syndrome. Daretodoubt.Org. https://www.daretodoubt.org/religious-trauma-syndrome
Harper, B. (2021, March 5). “Is Santa Real?” A Psychologist’s Case for Telling Kids The Truth. Fatherly. https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/tell-kids-santa-not-real/
Bartkowski, J. P. (2019, January 9). Mixed Blessing: The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Religion on Child Development among Third-Graders. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/1/37/htm
Age is Arbitrary — Discussion paper on setting minimum ages | CRIN. (2016, April 11). CRIN. https://archive.crin.org/en/library/publications/age-arbitrary-discussion-paper-setting-minimum-ages.html
