Global study reveals things keeping teens up at night

World Vision and Barna Research reveal Australian teens are unique in their concerns around mental health and launch conference events to unpack the findings.

The Barna Group and World Vision Australia have released the Australian segment of The Open Generation, an international study to understand the identity, values, and views of teenagers to help church leaders understand this emerging generation.

The Open Generation includes responses from nearly 25,000 teens aged 13 to 17 across 26 countries, the youngest cohort to be studied to date. The survey was sent to a cross section of teens, nationally representative of each country, regardless of their faith background or leaning.

The Australian segment launched today, which collected responses from 1000 participants, offers insight into how teens see their faith and the world compared with teens worldwide and the top three things our Australian teens are concerned about mental health, climate change, and their future jobs.

Rev. Noddy Sharma is Head of Community, Faith, and Partnerships for World Vision Australia.

“Australian teens are falling behind against the global averages on how they relate to Jesus, the Bible and how they feel they can impact the world around them. While this is alarming, it’s not a surprise,” Rev. Sharma said.

“This is an invitation for us as the church to dig a little deeper and engage with the upcoming generation so that we can assist them in reshaping how they think, what they believe and how they can turn up as their best selves in the world.”
 

“All throughout the scriptures God is reminding us that He’s at work and He’s certainly at work in the next generation.”

“It’s in this dusting off of God at work that we will capture the hearts and minds of the generations and unleash them to change the world.”

World Vision Australia are hosting The Open Generation Conferences in March 2023 to unpack the data-driven insights from the report. Speakers will include Barna’s David Kinnaman, Rev. Noddy Sharma, and a panel of local practitioners for each state. 

Conference events will be held in Brisbane (13 March), Sydney (15 March), and Melbourne (17 March) with more information here.