What should you do if your teen doesn’t want to attend religious services with the family during the holiday season? Forcing them to go can have a negative impact on a child’s mental and physical health, according to Dr. Susan Woolford, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
“Forcing a child to participate in religion is likely to diminish the positive effects on their health,” says Dr. Woolford. “That’s because those are more likely to occur if the child feels a sense of their own free will and their choice to engage in the religion.”
Dr. Woolford is the co-director of a new C.S Mott Children’s Hospital survey, which found that nearly half of parents would insist their teen join the family for holiday services, even if they didn’t want to go. But the survey also found that the vast majority of parents believe teens can have a spiritual relationship without being involved in organized religion.
