Spirituality of Children and Young People
The Role of Spirituality in Self-management of Health Promotion among College Students
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Olamide Adebayo
Spirituality has affected the lives of billions over the globe with beliefs and perceptions in different spiritual domains. The life of most individuals depends on their spirituality. Health disparities are synonymous to epidemics among the people who lack proper healthcare due to potential factors including race and ethnicity, cost, access to healthcare, and lack of insurance. It is well documented that chronic diseases such as diabetes, depression, hypertension have synchronicity with spirituality making it eminent to study. Little is known about the spirituality, health, college students and their perception towards the relationship between spirituality and health disparities. This study focuses on both undergraduate and graduate students’ perception of the role of spirituality in relation to health. Data will be collected from an approximate sample of 200 undergraduate and graduate students in a rural southeast regional university completing a 52-item health promotion survey via Qualtrics administered online. The tool will gather data on the health-promoting lifestyle, the areas of physical activity, nutrition, stress management, health responsibility, spiritual growth, and interpersonal relations. The collected data will be pooled into the SPSS 23 statistical software for analysis using descriptive and factor analysis. This research study will be IRB approved and will follow all appropriate ethics for conducting human research.
John Paul II on the Spirituality of Youth: A Framework for Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Bacolod
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lorna Lagumbay
The study examined the integration of St. John Paul Spirituality in the existing Youth Ministry Program of the Diocese of Bacolod as well as the programs implemented by the vicariates. The following were also explored in this study: the elements of the core spirituality as reflected in his catechesis during the World Youth Day celebration lived experience in the light of St. John Paul’s II spirituality and the programs, including the issues and concerns related to the sustainability of the youth ministry. Using the Documentary Analysis, the following are the five elements: Witnessing faith, Valuing Humanities, Fostering Unity, and Aspiring Happiness. The survey revealed that the top three youth ministry programs implemented are Parish Youth Program, Diocesan Youth Day and Youth Assembly. The most common issues and concerns related to the sustainability of the youth ministry include the problem of commitment and the relationship with others. Through FGD, the lived experiences are characterized by the following themes: Respect for Self and Others, Service in the Church and Community, Family as Pillar of faith, Prayer as Source of Strength and Courage, School as a Means of Formation, and Problems Encountered in Life. The result of the study implies that through the youth ministry programs, the youth has the opportunity to grow in terms of their knowledge, relationship, and commitment to the Lord. These programs have also offered venues for self-discovery and self-development.
The Religious Identity Scale: Comparisons of Religious Identity Types between Poles and Immigrant Filipinx Teens and Emerging Adults
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anna Wieradzka Pilarczyk, Drexler Ortiz, Catherine Costigan
The aim of the presentation is to introduce the Religious Identity Scale (RIS, Wieradzka-Pilarczyk, 2015), particularly to show how identity processes (i.e., exploration and commitment) have implications for understanding the relationship between national, ethnic, and religious identities. The current study examines Polish (N = 166, age 18-25) and immigrant Filipinx (N = 197, age 14-25) individuals. Separate cluster analyses were performed on each sample, and five groups of religious identities emerged for both Polish and Filipinx samples, with two clusters being similar between Polish and Filipinx groups. For the Polish sample, the largest identity group was an external religious identity, which is characterized by high commitment and in-depth exploration. The least common Polish religious identity was an indifferent religious identity which lacks commitment and interest in religion. For the Filipinx sample, an undifferentiated religious identity was most common, which may indicate some exploration or curiosity of religions without commitment. The smallest group was an externalized religious identity, characterized by a high degree of commitment with a low exploration of other religions. Comparisons between Polish and immigrant Filipinx religious identities indicate that an indifferent and internalized religious identity is common across these two countries. Variations in other religious identity groups may be due to differences in ethnic identity, immigration, and national values of the residing country. Future use of the RIS in other populations may extend the understanding of how religious identity operates in particular groups.
Open and Closed Futures of Amish Children in Public Schools: Perspectives of Public School Educators in an Amish Settlement
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ryan Ozar
The United States Supreme Court’s decision on the case Wisconsin v. Yoder et al. (1972) created a special provision for Amish and conservative Mennonite families by allowing their children to end formal schooling at age fourteen. The assumption was that these Anabaptist families were preparing children adequately to live fully in their communities without a high school education. Since then, most of these children attend small private Amish schools, but some public school districts in the United States, like those at the center of this paper’s study, have successfully attracted a significant number of Amish students to their elementary and middle schools. This paper examines the perspectives of public school educators of Amish children and how they reconcile their aspirations for their students’ freedom, autonomy, and open-futures with the realities of the context, place, space, and religious background from which the students source significant identity. The tension and contradictions that emerge from this work are substantial, as evident in the perspectives shared by these study participants, and in the court case arguments that initiated the provision for this educational exemption for Amish children in Wisconsin v. Yoder et al. (1972).
