Fears religion will isolate children at school stops parents passing on faith

Fears religion will isolate their children at school is stopping parents from passing on their faith. A recent poll of 1,013 UK parents found a quarter of them are of this opinion.

Furthermore, nearly one in five said it was not their role “as a parent to pass on my beliefs to my children”.

The poll was commissioned by the British religious and social affairs think tank “Theos”.

Of the parents surveyed, 458 identified as Christian. A further 113 said they were from other religions and 423 said they were not religious.

About 250 of those surveyed say they are concerned their children may put them put on the spot with unanswerable questions about religion.

Still others – around a third – feel social media will have  a greater impact on their children’s beliefs than they will.

Interestingly, although over half of the parents surveyed feel comfortable about talking about religion with their children, only 40 per cent have done so.

Around 36 per cent of parents who identified in the poll as Christian are concerned their children won’t grow up to share their faith. Fewer parents practising other faiths – 31 per cent – share this concern.

Theos head of research, Nick Spencer, said parents have the greatest influence on their children’s faith, not least through the integrity and authenticity of their own beliefs.”

A 2015 poll showed Britain is one of the least religious countries in the world, coming sixth from the bottom in a global study of belief carried out across 65 countries.

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