The country is growing more secular with young adults leading the way. Some studies suggest that many youth slip away from religion after high school when no one’s around to make them go to church or youth group. So what can be done to keep youth engaged with faith through their 20s? Make sure their parents are religiously active.

The study, which began tracking teens in 2002-03, continues to follow its subjects, now between the ages of 24 and 29. Researchers have determined teens who were raised in homes where religion was important—particularly those who came from black protestant or conservative protestant households—were far more likely to value religion as adults. In fact, 82 percent of teens who came from demonstrably religious homes said faith was still an important part of their lives 10 years later. Meanwhile, of those teens raised in secular households, only 1 percent said faith was important to them.

Notre Dame Sociologist Christian Smith, who led the study, says that may be because mainline parents are reluctant to push their kids into religion. “No other conceivable causal influence…comes remotely close to matching the influence of parents on the religious faith and practices of youth,” Smith said. “Parents just dominate.” (Huffington Post)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Check out his entertainment blog or follow him on Twitter.