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To what extent does Christianity influence the behavioural patterns of 6th form students at the Glenmuir High School?
Name: Rochelle Edwards
School: Glenmuir High School
Registration Number: 1000390672
Territory: Jamaica
Year of Exam: 2013
1
Acknowledgement
The completion of this Caribbean studies project could not have been done properly
without support from a number of people. Firstly, I would like to thank God for sparing my life
and guiding me through this project with ease. I would like to thank my parents for always being
at my side and helping me whenever I was in need. Lastly, special thanks to my Caribbean
Studies teacher Mrs. Wolfe who stuck behind me and gave me the motivation to succeed as she
made proper provision in giving all of the students help and tips on completing this project with
a view to achieve full marks.
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Table of Contents
Chapter Page
Introduction and Purpose of Research……………………………………………… 4
Literature Review…………………………………………………………………….. 6
Data Collection Sources…………..……………………………………………………9
Presentation and Interpretation of Findings….……………………………………..10
Discussion of Findings…………………………………………………………………22
Conclusion/Limitation/Recommendations…………………………………...……….24
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….…...25
Appendices …………………………………………………………………………..…26
3
Introduction and Purpose of Research
Research Statement
To what extent does Christianity influence the behavioural patterns of 6th form students at the
Glenmuir High School?
Sub problems
1. What percentage of the 6th form population are Christians?
2. In what ways does Christianity influence the behavioural patterns of the students?
3. What other factors influence the behavioural patterns of these students?
Background
The 6th form community at the Glenmuir High School is made up of over 250 young adults
most of whom have some belief in the Christian faith or parts of it. These beliefs can be shown in
the formation of clubs such as the Inter-school Christian Fellowship (ISCF) of which a majority
of its members are 6th formers.
This research is aimed at finding out to what extent does Christianity or religious beliefs
influence the behavioural patterns of these 6th formers. The researcher chose this topic because it
is very appealing and the findings are bound to be very debatable and can be related to from a
universal point of view.
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The researcher assures that the education value of this investigation will be copious and will
bring great awareness to the features of the Christian faith along with the impacts on not just the
6th formers at Glenmuir but youths in general.
Delimitations
In doing this research, the researcher will focus this study on the 6th formers at the Glenmuir
High School in Clarendon. The researcher will collect data from 20 students for this research.
The main area of focus for this research will be on Christianity and its effect on these students’
behaviours.
It will be carried out over a two month period between January and February 2013.
Definition of Key Terms
Behavioural patterns - A response of an individual or group to an action, environment, person, or stimulus.
Christianity - The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.
5
Literature Review
According to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Christianity is one of the
world’s major monotheistic religions. Christians believe in Jesus Christ and follow his teachings.
The definition shows that the fundamentals of Christianity are centred on the teachings of Jesus
Christ.
Around the world, matters of faith vary greatly, with no one thing sacred to everyone on
earth. Because religion deals with ideas that transcend everyday experience, neither common
sense nor any scientific discipline can verify or disprove religious doctrine. Religion is a matter
of faith. Religion encourages people to look hopefully to a better world to come, minimizing the
social problems of their world. A link exists between religious beliefs and societal benefit. But is
there a link between religion and adolescent behaviour, such as sex, delinquency, and the media's
effect on adolescents? Several decades of social scientific studies have shown that religion is
often a factor in the lives of American adolescents, influencing their attitudes and behaviours in
ways that are commonly viewed as positive and constructive (Smith, 2003). This shows that
indeed religion or in this case Christianity will have an effect on choices the 6th formers at
Glenmuir High School make especially for baptised Christians. Some adolescents will look into
the teachings of Christianity before making a drastic decision as some of the features of
Christianity are highlighted in everyday society in the form of moral values.
A study conducted at Fordham University established a relationship between the strength
of a college freshman's religious faith and sexual experimentation (Zaleski & Schiaffino, 2000).
The study found that students “who strongly identify with religious teachings and traditions”
were “less likely to engage in … sexual activity”
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Jennifer Elliott in here Yahoo article states “Adolescence is a time when everything is
questioned, including culture and religion. There are so many influences on adolescents today,
television, music, movies, the internet, that it is hard to believe that religion can make that much
of a difference.” This sentiment is very true as teenagers tend to gravitate towards these things
nowadays rather than religion. We can also often see where nowadays where religion and
popular culture seem to be entwined and how religion is portrayed nowadays will have an effect
on how Christianity affects the 6th form population at Glenmuir.
The article also continues to say “Religion has become more marketable in the past few
years………… In bookstores, the Religion section grows larger. Publishing companies are
producing brightly-coloured bibles as opposed to the traditional black leather. As long as religion
and its purpose are not misrepresented, the popularity of religiosity will continue to grow.”
A major influence on how the followers of the Christian faith live their lives is The Ten
Commandments, British Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon once said of The Ten
Commandments “I find sometimes profitable to myself to read the Ten Commandments and to
think over my sins against each one of them. What a list it is, and how it humbles you in the dust
to think it over”. What Mr. Spurgeon was showing is how important these commandments are to
Christians. In order to really follow those commandments, persons have to really adjust their
personal and social lives in accordance to them. Do the 6th formers at Glenmuir do that?
Then there is the argument about moral values, Credong.org in its article titled Influence of
Religion on Daily Life states that the laws and social customs that exist in society are almost all
based on religious teachings. There is no doubt that growing up, parents have taught their
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children what is deemed socially acceptable behaviour using the teachings of Christianity to help
them.
Again, another article published by Credong.org entitled “Why Society Needs Religion”
explains the importance of religion in general in society. Reasons given were: it regulates
behaviour, it teaches self sufficiency, the fact that society is largely based on the idea or
cooperation which is also taught by religion and lastly, religion gives society something to
believe in.
An article on the site Barna.org entitled Faith Has a Limited Effect on Most People’s Behaviour
states that Notional Christians – people who say they are Christian but have never made a
profession of faith in Jesus Christ represent almost half of all people attending Christian
churches in the U.S. In total, they are about one-third of the adult population. The study also
indicated that even though the Bible and churches encourage fasting for religious reasons, the
people most likely to engage in religious fasts are adherents of non-Christian faiths. In fact, the
non-Christian people of faith are twice as likely as Christians to engage in fasting.
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Data Collection Sources
So as to carry out this research the researcher will utilize information from several data
collection sources. The type of research to be carried out is applied research and it will be
descriptive in nature. The presentation of data will be done using both the qualitative and
quantitative methods.
The research instrument that will be utilized is the questionnaire. This instrument will be used as
it provides a quick, efficient and cheap method of data collection as well as allows larger
numbers of information to be collected that can be easily sorted, summarized and analysed. The
twenty questionnaires were issued on February 2, 2013.
The researcher will also employ the use of secondary sources which includes books and
websites. This is to ensure that the researcher is well acquainted with studies of similar subjects
done by others. The researcher will then present the finding using illustrative methods such as
graphs and charts.
The sampling method that will be utilized by the researcher is known as stratified random
sampling where the objective 6th form population will be broken down into the subsets of teens
who had a strong Christian background and those who did not. Individuals were randomly
chosen from those subsets. This method was utilized as it provided the researcher with the most
competent manner in which to obtain the necessary information. Twenty individuals will be
used to collect this information. They will be chosen as this allows the researcher to make
assumptions that can be generalized to the entire target population.
9
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Presentation of Findings
Question 2: Are you a baptised Christian?
8
12
Yes No
Figure 1
Figure 1 show that eight of the twenty respondents which amounts to 40% were baptised
Christians and 60% or the remaining 12 were not.
10
Question 4: How often do you go to church?
Rarely Often Occasionally Holidays0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Figure 2
Figure 2 is a column graph showing the response to question 4 “How often do you go to
church?” The answers shows that two of the respondents said rarely, twelve declared often, four
said occasionally and two said they attended church only on holidays.
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Question 7: What Christian clubs are you a part of?
ISCF
Alpha
None
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure 3
Figure 3 shows the responses to the question “What Christian clubs are you a part of?” Ten of
the respondents said that they were a part of the ISCF body; two said they were a part of the
Alphas and the other eight were not a part of any Christian clubs.
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Question 8: What are your views on devotion?
It is necessary It is unnecessary0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Figure 4
Figure 4 displays the respondents’ views on devotion. Eighteen of the respondents said devotion
is necessary and the other two thought it was unnecessary.
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Question 10: How does the Christian belief affect your academic performance?
Work harder for success Honour the efforts of your parents Proper time management 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Figure 5
Figure 5 shows the results to question 10 which asked the effect the Christian belief has on the
respondents’ academic performance? Eight persons said that the belief allows them to work
harder for success; ten said it makes them honour the efforts of their parents and two stated that it
helped them to practise proper time management.
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Question 11: What are some of the activities that your church does not support?
Wearing pants Going to parties Having intimate sexual relationships outside
marriage
All of the above 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Figure 6
Figure 6 displays the answers to question 11. Nine persons stated that their church forbids all of
the named activities while the other nine stated that their church only forbade having intimate
sexual relationship outside of marriage.
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Question 14: Would you prefer going to a party or prayer meeting?
PartyPrayer Meeting
Figure 7
Figure 7 represents which past time the respondents preferred. Eleven of them would rather go
to a party, this number includes four of the teens who said that they were baptised Christians.
The other nine stated that they would rather go to a prayer meeting.
Question 16: In what ways do your friends influence you?
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0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Series1
Figure 8
Figure 8 shows the type of influence the respondents’ friends have on them. Three persons said
that their friends influence them into having intimate sexual relationships; twelve said their
friends influenced them into becoming better persons and five stated that their friends influenced
them into listening to secular music.
Question 19: Do you obey all the rules of the school?
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Yes 25%
No75%
Figure 9
In response to question 18 as shown in figure 9, a minority of 25% stated that they followed all
the rules of the school while the significant 75% stated that they did not. It should also be noted
that of the 25%, only two of the baptised Christian were included.
Analysis of Findings
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The 6th form population at the Glenmuir High School has both nominal and baptised
Christians. The researcher asked the question “Are you a baptised Christian?” as opposed to
“Are you a Christian?” because as long as a person believes in the Christian faith generally they
would classify themselves as Christians. Hence, the researcher wanted to observe the differences
in behaviours between the two groups. It is shown in Figure 1 that eight of the twenty
respondents which amounts to 40% were baptised Christians and 60% or the remaining 12 were
not. This piece of information would give rise to assumptions that Christianity would have an
effect on the behavioural patterns of a lesser number of 6th formers but saying that would suggest
that nominal Christians were less of a believer than baptised Christians. Is this a fair assumption?
When asked how often they went to church, two of the respondents said rarely, twelve declared
often, four said occasionally and two said they attended church only on holidays. It is necessary
to state that all half of the respondents who said they were baptised Christian stated that they
attended church occasionally. It is arguable that one doesn’t have to attend church regularly to be
a good Christian but a majority of the things that these 6th formers learn about the Christian faith
will have to come from the church and so, what is learnt will be reflected in their behavioural
patterns.
Why do you go to church? A majority of the 6th formers gave the reason that they wanted
to be closer to God and this was the best way of doing so while a few stated that they didn’t have
a choice as their parents “forced” them to go. These are mostly the teens who said that they came
from a strong Christian home. So it can be said that from the use of the word “force” that some
of these 6th formers are just expected to follow their parents’ religious beliefs rather than
formulate a religious knowledge on their own.
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Eighteen of the respondents said devotion is necessary and the other two thought it was
unnecessary. Devotion is just one of the means used at Glenmuir High School to get closer to
God and it is believed that the closer one is to God then the more satisfactory that person’s
behaviour will be. The fact that two persons saw devotion as being unnecessary does not exactly
mean that their behaviour will be any different from the others.
A majority of the baptised Christians also stated that they would classify their closest
friends as unsaved so apparently the fact that they are baptised does not mean that they only tend
to form friendship with other Baptised Christians. This reveals that one of the other factors that
would influence the behavioural patterns of the 6th form students would be their friends and to an
extent, whether or not these friends are baptised will also determine the type of influence
A majority of the baptised Christians also stated that they listen to Dancehall music but it has no
effect on them. So we see that them being “Saved” does not have a significant difference
between their activities and those of the unsaved. Again it can be said that friends might a great
influence in this as it is noticed that those who answered yes to listening to dancehall music also
stated that this is one of the ways in which their friends influenced them. Three persons also said
that their friends influence them into having intimate sexual relationships.
Despite being a baptised Christian or not there are certain activities and behaviours which
most teenagers are bound to partake in that are termed adolescent. It is similar to the popular
saying “Boys will be boys”. As shown in Figure 7 a majority of the 6th formers would rather go
to a party, this number includes four of the teens who said that they were baptised Christians.
The other nine stated that they would rather go to a prayer meeting. There are times when
teenagers will be teenagers no matter how much of a Christian they are, it’s in their nature.
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Finally one could look at the results to the question “Do you obey all the rules of the
school?” Only a minority of 25% stated that they followed all the rules of the school while the
significant 75% stated that they did not. It should also be noted that of the 25%, only two of the
baptised Christian were included. At Glenmuir there are many rules and with the 6th formers
being adolescents most of the 6th formers are bound to break at least one of the rule, it might be
intentionally or accidentally. As teenagers it must be understood that Christianity in itself does
not detain you from breaking rules or behaving unscrupulously but it is the amount of faith you
have in Christianity, or any other religion that regulates how one behaves.
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Discussion of Findings
“Adolescence is a time when everything is questioned, including culture and religion. There
are so many influences on adolescents today, television, music, movies, the internet, that it is
hard to believe that religion can make that much of a difference. It is indeed shown that at the
Glenmuir High School Christianity was not the only thing affecting the behaviour of the 6th
formers. The research shows that the impact of friends play a major influence on how most of the
respondents behaved the influence varied from both positive to negative. As one would imagine,
a lot of the 6th formers at the Glenmuir High School are not particularly religious but they do
engage in religious activities such as conducting and having respect for devotion. Most of the
respondents thought that devotion was necessary because they wanted God to be a part of every
aspect of their lives especially academically.
A lot of respondents thought that following the Ten Commandments was a very important thing
in living a fulfilling Christian life. There were a few who admitted to not following these
commandments each day especially in the sexual aspects of their lives as some of these
respondents stated that this is one aspect of their lives in which their friends influence them. It is
also seen where 75% of respondents also said that they do not obey all the rules of the school. As
said before, persons have to really adjust their personal and social lives in accordance to these
commandments. It is clear that some 6th formers try to do this but it is not always achievable.
The researcher does see in the findings that a majority of the respondents were notional
Christians who do engage in fasting. What difference does it make? Would a “saved” Christian
person get a better treatment in the afterlife than the Notional Christian even if they both have
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the same behavioural patterns? Is it fair to say that those 6th formers who are baptised Christians
behave better than the others? Not in all cases.
As said before, laws and social customs that exist in society are almost all based on
religious teachings, the majority of the respondents disclosed that they do attend Sunday/Sabbath
school and in these lessons are teachings of morality and correct social behaviours.
Parents and teachers alike have instilled in these set of teens qualities that are morally right
which is brought out by the teaching ideologies such as turning the other cheek and of bible
sayings such as “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (NIV, Luke 6:31).
As for the belief that religion especially Christianity regulates behaviour, it is popular belief that
religion is one of the reason even if distant, for many of the wars that have been fought in this
our era. However, despite these sentiments it is also very agreeable that it does regulate
behaviour. Just try to think of a world without religion. What would people believe in? What
would give the society hope?
It is my own belief that religion will play an eternal part in adolescents' lives. As teens are
burdened with the choices of right or wrong, good or bad, yes or no, we must believe that their
basis for decision-making comes from somewhere. Whether it is from societal standards,
parental guidance, or spiritual upbringing, the teen will do what is right for them in any specific
situation.
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Conclusion, Limitations, Recommendations
It is fair to say that Christianity does influence the behavioural patterns of the 6th formers
at the Glenmuir High School even if it is to a small extent and some more than others. The
researcher sees that the larger percentage of 6th formers are indeed Christians (both saved and
notional included) and their religious beliefs do play a small part in how they act and think but
the researcher is led to believe than somehow the influence can become greater and more
positive if the students decide to take their religious beliefs more seriously. The researcher also
sees where other things such as the roles of friends and music play an equal part in influencing
these behavioural patterns. The behaviour of the students vary from good to bad although it can
be said that there is no one person who’s behaviour seem to be directly influenced by
Christianity.
Limitations
A majority of the respondents did not properly answer the open ended questions or did
not attempt to answer them at all.
Some of the respondents misplaced their questionnaires and the researcher had to reprint
them.
The respondents took a longer time to answer the questionnaires than was expected.
Recommendations
Upon observing the data acquired from this research, the researcher recommends the following:
1. That more persons get involved in Christian clubs.
2. That the 6th formers try to find insight from Christianity by educating themselves more.
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Bibliography
1. Smith, C. (2003) Theorizing Religious Effects Among American Adolescents
2. Elliott, J (2005). How Does Religion Affect the Lives of Adolescents? Retrieved February 20, 2013, from Yahoo Voices website: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-does- religion-affect-lives-adolescents-11697.html?cat=72
3. Hemmingway, P. (2007). Faith Has a Limited Effect On Most People’s Behaviour.
Retrieved February 20, 2013, from Barna Group website: http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/188-faith-has-a-limited-effect-on-most-peoples-behavior.
4. Pritchett, R. (2008) Influence of Religion on Daily Life Retrieved February 21, 2013 from Credong website:
http://www.credong.org
5. Salmon, T. (2008I Why Society Needs Religion Retrieved February 21, 2013, from Credong website:
http://www.credong.org
6. Wellman, J. (2011). In Charles Spurgeon on the Ten Commandments. Retrieved February 20, 2013, from Everyday Christian website: http://www.everydaychristian.com/blogs/post/10304.
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Questionnaire
Gender Male ( ) Female ( )
1. Do you come from a strong Christian home?
Yes ( ) No ( )
2. Are you a baptised Christian?
Yes ( ) No ( )
3. What denomination do you belong to?
Baptist ( ) Seventh Day Adventist ( ) Methodist ( ) Jehovah’s Witness
( ) Pentecostal ( ) other ______________
4. How often do you attend church?
Rarely ( ) Often ( ) Occasionally ( ) Holidays ( )
5. Why do you go to church?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Do you attend Sunday/ Sabbath School?
Yes ( ) No ( )
7. What Christian clubs are you a part of?
ISCF ( ) Alpha ( ) None ( )
8. What are your views on devotion?
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It is necessary ( ) It is unnecessary ( )
State why
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9. Do you engage in fasting?
Yes ( ) No ( )
10. How does the Christian belief affect your academic performance?
Work harder for success ( ) Honour the efforts of your parents ( )
Proper time management ( ) other _______________________
11. What are some of the activities that your church does not support?
Wearing pants ( )
Going to parties ( )
Having intimate sexual relationships outside of marriage ( )
All of the above ( )
12. Do you partake in any of the forbidden activities? I yes, which?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
13. In what aspect of your life do you obey the Christian doctrine most?
Social ( ) Sexual ( ) Moral ( )
14. Would you prefer going to a party or prayer meeting?
Party ( ) Prayer Meeting ( )
15. How would you classify your closest friends?
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Unsaved ( ) Christians ( ) God fearing ( ) Other ( )
16. In what ways do your friends influence you?
Having intimate relationships ( )
Becoming a better person ( )
Listening to secular music ( )
Other ______________________
17. What type of music do you listen to?
Gospel ( ) Reggae ( ) R&B ( ) Dancehall ( ) Other
___________
18. Are you influenced in any way by the music?
Yes ( ) No ( )
19. Do you obey all the rules of the school?
Yes ( ) No ( )
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