Lyman Stone presents evidence that much of the decline of religiosity in the U.S. is happening among teenagers, not adults, and makes some suggestions about why it’s happening.

The reality is that the last 30 years have seen a dramatic diminution of parental influence in general as kids spend more of their life in child care settings, at school, and online. This shift has protected them from some damaging influences (teens today do less drugs and have less premarital sex) but has also reduced the reach of some good influences (churches, parents).