2 of 3

For many of the women, faith played an important part in their will to succeed, Parker says: "They believed God was directing them, and they drew strength from that."

It also helps that mentors encourage the hard work necessary for academic success. Romanita Hairston, Seattle-based executive director of World Vision's U.S. programs, has been mentoring and tutoring for nine years. Through her church and World Vision's KidReach program, she's helped children with homework, applauded hard-earned grades, and attended conferences with teachers.

Such efforts have helped students like Jackson, the child of a single mother with a sketchy work history and chronic financial problems. Hairston and her husband began working with Jackson when he was in middle school.

"We told him he was smart and encouraged him to work with his teachers," she says.

Hairston and Jackson's teachers discovered he had a learning disability. With some teaching adjustments and Hairston's continual support, Jackson graduated from high school.

"Sometimes it's just a matter of helping them have the confidence they need to succeed," Hairston says.

Confidence also comes when teenagers are given church responsibilities. Carrasco, for example, has older students read to younger children or help with their homework. They speak at youth meetings, make short teaching videos, and even negotiate reconciliation on racially divided sports teams.

Even the smallest leadership opportunities can give students skills they will need to mature into productive adults.

"I want them to realize they can lead," Carrasco says.

Regnerus and Elder are not the only researchers to find a link between church and academic excellence. More than 600 studies identified by the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society have also shown religion's positive effect on physical, mental, and social health.

Using the same data set as Regnerus and Elder, Robert Crosnoe of the University of Texas identified 500 same-sex twin pairs and studied their emotional health. He discovered that a more religious or churchgoing twin demonstrates less emotional distress. The difference was most dramatic among twins from low-income communities.

Students from poor neighborhoods who attend church are also less likely to engage in violent behavior, says Byron Johnson, director of the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, which sponsored the Regnerus/Elder study.

"Religion is one of the best predictors of avoiding crime and delinquency," Johnson says.

And the longer the church involvement the greater the curbing of violence, he says. Johnson credits youth workers like Carrasco and Hairston for not only being healthy role models (especially on how to manage anger) but also providing youth with alternatives to life on the streets.

The effects of church involvement seem to apply to poor rural communities as well. Elder, in previous research, examined the emotional health of students from rural Iowa after the farm crisis of the 1980s jolted their community. Elder found that religion increased resilience as youth faced adversity.

"The church was part of what allowed them to rise above disadvantage," he says.

Some churches and researchers are asking which comes first: Do good churches make good students, or do good students seek out good churches? No research entirely answers that question, but Carrasco ventures a guess.

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

May 21 2002, Vol. 46, No. 6