Children, young people and diverse worldviews: religion, spirituality and non-religion

The significance of religion in young people’s lives has become increasingly complex and contested. Statistics reveal significantly lower rates of religious identification among younger adults compared to older adults in many countries worldwide. Concurrently, popular discourse has often focused on the so-called vulnerability of minority religious youth to violent extremism, and its prevention. Alongside this, scholarship on youth religiosity has problematized the narrow scope of the term “religion,” particularly in light of the rise of non-religion and the increasing popularity of spirituality among young people. This chapter begins with a discussion of demographic changes to youth religiosity, before moving onto introduce key topics in research on religion, spirituality and non-religion among young people. It canvasses the literature on religious socialization, minority youth religiosity, education about religions and beliefs in schools, religiously informed civic and political engagement, religious individualization and changes to young people’s religious engagements in a mobile and digital age. Key theories, including lived religion, secularization, post-secularization, co-existence and complexity theory, are discussed in relation to the literature